Is reactive airways dysfunction syndrome a variant of occupational asthma?
GROUND: Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) or irritant-induced asthma is a syndrome that leaves subjects with asthma-like symptoms after one or more exposures to a high concentration of an irritant substance. The degree of reversibility of airway obstruction in subjects with RADS is nevertheless unknown, as is the degree of associated lesions at the airway level. METHODS: We compared the acute reversibility of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) after inhalation of albuterol (200 micrograms) in 15 subjects with RADS (12 cases caused by chlorine inhalation) with that of 30 subjects with occupational asthma (OA) caused by various agents. They were paired according to baseline airway obstruction (61% and 63% of predicted value in the RADS and OA groups), requirement for medication (bronchodilator only–7 of 15 subjects with RADS and 14 of 30 subjects with OA–as compared with bronchodilator + inhaled steroids in 8 of 15 subjects with RADS and 16 of 30 subjects with OA, r
