Toxic oil syndrome: survival in the whole cohort between 1981 and 1995.
OBJECTIVE
In 1981, toxic oil syndrome (TOS) appeared in Spain, affecting more than 20,000 persons and causing over 2500 deaths to date. Previous studies have addressed mortality only by gender and age. We analyzed possible prognostic factors in the survival of the cohort.


METHODS
The study period was 1 May 1981 to 31 December 1995 (31 December 1995 was the cut-off date for survivors). The study population consisted of the entire cohort. Overall mortality and TOS-related deaths were studied. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression were used in the analyses.


RESULTS
Among the 20,084 subjects in the cohort, 12,164 (60.6%) were women, and 7917 (39.4%) were men. Of the 1799 deaths, 958 (53.3%) were women, and 841 (46.71%) were men; of the 356 TOS-related deaths, 234 (65.7%) were women, and 122 (34.3%) were men. TOS was the leading cause of death among subjects <40 years of age. Among the TOS-related deaths, the shortest survival times were for women and subjects <40 years of age. The major disease manifestations had the highest relative risks (RR) (liver disease, RR 3.83; pulmonary infection, RR 1.54; motor neuropathy, RR 2.24; pulmonary hypertension, RR 3.19; and eosinophilia, RR 1.14.).


CONCLUSIONS
The major clinical manifestations showed worse prognosis for overall and TOS-related mortality. Application of these results to the survivors will help clarify the validity of these conclusions.
Sánchez-Porro Valadés
P
P
Centro de Investigación sobre el Síndrome del Aceite Tóxico y Enfermedades Raras, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, C/ Sinesio Delgado, 6 28029 Madrid, Spain.
Posada de la Paz
M
M
de Andrés Copa
P
P
Gimenez Ribota
O
O
Abaitua Borda
I
I
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D029741:Brassica rapa / Q000506:poisoning; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016603:Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000401:mortality*; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000506:poisoning*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D016019:Survival Analysis
D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil