Pulmonary Involvement in Zinc Fume Fever

doi:10.1378/chest.92.5.946

Chest

Volume 92, Issue 5, November 1987, Pages 946-948

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A patient with the clinical history of recurring zinc fume fever underwent an experimental welding exposure; this resulted in a systemic reaction and a distinct self-limiting response in the periphery of the lung, demonstrated by pulmonary function tests and bronchoalveolar lavage. These pulmonary changes observed for the first time in man were reproducible.

Section snippets

CASE REPORT

Up until 1980, the now 26-year-old locksmith, a smoker (25 cigarettes per day), was well. In that year, he started a new job with much welding, usually without safety precautions such as a protective mask and adequate ventilation. A few hours after welding on zinc-coated materials for the first time, the patient developed shivering, sweating, and shortness of breath. Whatever welding technique he used, these complaints recurred many times when he was working with zinc materials. Other metals

RESULTS

The Raw was slightly increased immediately after the welding process (Fig 1), but in one hour, it was in the normal range again without any treatment. Two hours after the end of the challenge, the patient experienced a sweetish taste, shortness of breath, and a chilling sensation; one hour later, there were pronounced chills, and three hours later, the patient showed profuse sweating.

With a maximum three to six hours after the end of the exposure, we found a significant reduction of the IVC

DISCUSSION

Taking into consideration the case history of the patient, the diagnosis of zinc fume fever is suspected. This is confirmed by the results of the two welding tests with zinc-coated materials; the patient developed self-limiting chills, fever, and dyspnea, and the zinc levels in the blood were clearly increased.2, 3 Besides the reported symptoms a systemic reaction is indicated by the marked rise of the white blood cell count; pulmonary involvement is established by the distinct deterioration of

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Chest

Pulmonary Involvement in Zinc Fume Fever

Section snippets

CASE REPORT

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Chest

Chest

Chest

Magnesiumoxid als Ursache des Metallrauchfiebers

Schweiz Med. Wochenschr

Metal fume fever. In: Occupational health and safety

Geneva: International Labour Office,

Welders’ metal fume fever

J Soc Occup Med

European Community for Coal and Steel: standardized lung function testing

Cadmiumbestimmung im Blut

Zinc determined in 10µl serum or urine samples by flameless atomic absorption spectrometry

Clin Chem