High prevalence of occupational exposure to solvents or silica in male systemic sclerosis patients: a Belgian cohort analysis

Increasing evidence supports a relation of some occupational exposures to systemic sclerosis pathogenesis. We aimed to evaluate occupational exposure and clinical characteristics in male patients with systemic sclerosis followed in two Belgian academic hospitals. One hundred and three male patients, included in the Belgian Systemic Sclerosis Cohort, were identified. An expert in occupational medicine reviewed the occupational history and allocated the patients to one of the following groups: probable exposure to crystalline silica, probable exposure to solvents, probable exposure to other toxi... Mehr ...