To evaluate the association between the presence of circulating rheumatoid factor and the results of clinical finding, radiographic features, and pulmonary function test, 319 coal miners were examined for rheumatoid factor in serum, chest X-ray,
pulmonary function test and degree of respiratory symptom.
@ES The result were as follows;
@EN 1. The positive rate of rheumatoid factor in serum was higher in the small opacity (16.4%) and the large opacity group (20.9%) than in the control one (6.3%) who had normal finding by chest X-rays.
2. No significant difference was observed in the positive rate of rheumatoid factor between the small opacity (16.4%) and the large opacity group (20.9%), but its positive rate was higher in the C type large opacity group (41.7%) than in the
small
and
the other large opacity groups.
3. The complaint rate of dyspnea in the rheumatoid factor positive group was significantly higher than that in the negative group.
4. In the rheumatoid factor positive group, the mean values of forced vital capacity (FVC), one second forced expiratory volume (FVC1), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), peaked expiratory flow rate (PEFR), maximal expiratory flow at 75, 50, 25
percent of expired forced vital capacity (Vmax 75, 50, 25), and total lung capacity (TLC), and its percent of the predicted normal value were markedly reduced compared with the rheumatoid factor negative group.
|