Research Article

“Sarcoid like” granulomatous pulmonary disease in World Trade Center disaster responders

  1. Laura E. Crowley MD1,*,
  2. Robin Herbert MD1,
  3. Jacqueline M. Moline MD, MSc1,
  4. Sylvan Wallenstein PhD1,
  5. Gauri Shukla MPH1,
  6. Clyde Schechter MD2,
  7. Gwen S. Skloot MD1,
  8. Iris Udasin MD3,
  9. Benjamin J. Luft MD4,
  10. Denise Harrison MD5,
  11. Moshe Shapiro MS1,
  12. Karen Wong MPH6,
  13. Henry S. Sacks MD, PhD1,
  14. Philip J. Landrigan MD, MSc1,
  15. Alvin S. Teirstein MD1

Article first published online: 22 DEC 2010

DOI: 10.1002/ajim.20924

Issue

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

Volume 54, Issue 3, pages 175–184, March 2011

Additional Information

How to Cite

Crowley, L. E., Herbert, R., Moline, J. M., Wallenstein, S., Shukla, G., Schechter, C., Skloot, G. S., Udasin, I., Luft, B. J., Harrison, D., Shapiro, M., Wong, K., Sacks, H. S., Landrigan, P. J. and Teirstein, A. S. (2011), “Sarcoid like” granulomatous pulmonary disease in World Trade Center disaster responders. Am. J. Ind. Med., 54: 175–184. doi: 10.1002/ajim.20924

Author Information

  1. 1

    Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York

  2. 2

    Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York

  3. 3

    University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey

  4. 4

    SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York

  5. 5

    New York University/Bellevue, New York, New York

  6. 6

    Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York

*The Mount Sinai Medical Center, P.O. Box 1057, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 7 FEB 2011
  2. Article first published online: 22 DEC 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 2 NOV 2010

Funded by

  • CDC/NIOSH. Grant Numbers: U1O 0H008232, U10 OH008225, U10 OH008239, U10 OH008275, OH008216, U10 OH008223

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (399K)

Keywords:

  • a case control etiologic study of sarcoidosis (ACCESS);
  • forced vital capacity (FVC);
  • granulomatous disease;
  • sarcoidosis;
  • World Trade Center (WTC)

Abstract

Background

More than 20,000 responders have been examined through the World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program since September 11, 2001. Studies on WTC firefighters have shown elevated rates of sarcoidosis. The main objective of this study was to report the incidence of “sarcoid like” granulomatous pulmonary disease in other WTC responders.

Methods

Cases of sarcoid like granulomatous pulmonary disease were identified by: patient self-report, physician report and ICD-9 codes. Each case was evaluated by three pulmonologists using the ACCESS criteria and only “definite” cases are reported.

Results

Thirty-eight patients were classified as “definite” cases. Six-year incidence was 192/100,000. The peak annual incidence of 54 per 100,000 person-years occurred between 9/11/2003 and 9/11/2004. Incidence in black responders was nearly double that of white responders. Low FVC was the most common spirometric abnormality.

Conclusions

Sarcoid like granulomatous pulmonary disease is present among the WTC responders. While the incidence is lower than that reported among firefighters, it is higher than expected. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:175–184, 2011. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (399K)