Role of Exercise Testing in Assessing Functional Respiratory Impairment Due to Asbestos Exposure

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Abstract
To evaluate the complaint of exertional dyspnea in asbestos-exposed shipyard workers, pulmonary function tests were performed at rest and during exercise on 90 subjects with pleural plaques. The subjects were divided into 4 groups based On resting pulmonary function studies; group 1 (8) had a restrictive defect, group 2 (30) had an obstructive defect, group 3 (6) had an isolated reduction in diffusing capacity and group 4 (46) had a normal study. Subjects with a restrictive defect demonstrated minor physiologic abnormalities during exercise. Subjects with an obstructive defect demonstrated abnormalities consistent with their obstructive defect. Subjects in groups 3 and 4 demonstrated an abnormally elevated wasted ventilation fraction, which may have been an early indicator of interstitial disease due to asbestos exposure. Exercise testing was a useful tool in excluding the presence of significant functional exercise limitation due to asbestos exposure in the majority of subjects and in disclosing some physiologic abnormalities in some subjects.

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