title: Multiple sclerosis in nurse anaesthetists.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Volatile anaesthetics are chemically related to organic solvents used in industry. Exposure to industrial solvents may increase the incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the risk among nurse anaesthetists of contracting MS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nurses with MS were identified by an appeal in the monthly magazine of the Swedish Nurse Union and a magazine of the Neurological Patients Association in Sweden. Ninety nurses with MS responded and contacted our clinic. They were given a questionnaire, which was filled in by 85 subjects; 13 of these were nurse anaesthetists. The questionnaire requested information about work tasks, exposure, diagnosis, symptoms, and year. The number of active nurse anaesthetists was estimated based on information from the National Board of Health and Welfare and The Nurse Union. Incidence data for women in the region of Gothenburg and Denmark were used as the reference to estimate the risk by calculation of the standardised incidence ratio (SIR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven of the 13 nurse anaesthetists were exposed to anaesthetic gases before onset of MS. Mean duration of exposure before diagnosis was 14.4 years (range 4-27 years). Ten cases were diagnosed in the study period 1980-99, resulting in significantly increased SIRs of 2.9 and 2.8 with the Gothenburg and the Danish reference data, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although based on crude data and a somewhat approximate analysis, this study provides preliminary evidence for an excess risk of MS in nurse anaesthetists. The risk may be even greater than observed, as the case ascertainment might have been incomplete because of the crude method applied. Further studies in this respect are clearly required to more definitely assess the risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Health and Environment, Linköping University, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden. ulf.flodin@lio.se
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Flodin
authors.forename: A-M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Landtblom
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Axelson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D009719:Nurse Anesthetists; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics