Incidence of lung, eye, and skin lesions as late complications in 34,000 Iranians with wartime exposure to mustard agent.
Approximately 34,000 Iranians known to have sustained mustard agent exposure during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988 and survived over a decade afterwards were screened for distribution of the most commonly occurring medical problems. In order of greatest incidence, these include lesions of the lungs (42.5%), eyes (39.3%), and skin (24.5%). Within each subpopulation, patients were ranked according to severity of lesions. Twenty-three percent to 37% of patients exhibited at least mild coverage, with 1.5% to 4.5% classed as moderate, and a much smaller population (0.023-1.0%) of the 34,000 patients exhibiting extensive (severe) lesional coverage. These results provide a comprehensive overview of the medical problem most common among mustard victims and could serve as a predictor of the likely impact of these weapons on health status of populations exposed to them during ongoing military conflicts.
Khateri
Shahriar
S
Chemical Warfare Victims Unit, Organization of Veterans Affairs, Tehran, Iran.
Ghanei
Mostafa
M
Keshavarz
Saeed
S
Soroush
Mohammad
M
Haines
David
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000506:poisoning*; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009151:Mustard Gas / Q000506:poisoning*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D014857:Warfare
D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D009151:Mustard Gas