A study on systemic effects of Chromium among construction workers with contact dermatoses attending tertiary care hospital in Coimbatore.

Bharathi sukumar; Ramasamy Periyapatti Periyasamy; Sivakumar; Uma Maheswari; Thiriveni Balajji

Volume : VII, Issue : V, May - 2018

A study on systemic effects of Chromium among construction workers with contact dermatoses attending tertiary care hospital in Coimbatore.

Bharathi Sukumar, Ramasamy Periyapatti Periyasamy, Sivakumar, Uma Maheswari, Thiriveni Balajji

Abstract :

AIM: To elicit the systemic effects and correlate with urinary and serum chromium levels among constructionworkers who presented with contact dermatitis.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective observational hospital– based clinical study, conducted among 50construction workers who presented with skin and systemic manifestations to the our OPD Dermatology from Oct2016 to Jan2017.The data containing demographic details, occupational details, clinical manifestation,systemic examination and co morbidities were collected.All routine and special investigations including, Urine routine, Hematological profile with Peripheral smear, Blood sugar, LFT, Serum Electrolytes, Blood urea creatinine,TFT, Lipid profile, Chest X ray,USGabdomen, ECG, Spirometry were done. Chromium levels in blood and urine were analyzed separately in all patients by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy Method(ICP–MS).

RESULTS:On Hematological evaluations, 40% showed abnormal findings which revealed Eosinophilia(24%), leucocytosis (12%), lymphocytosis and dimorphic anemia in each patient. On Spirometry,mild, moderate and severe restrictionwere observed in 14%, 18% and 20% respectively. On evaluation of other systems, LFT, RFT and ECG all showed no abnormalities.In our study, no abnormal levels of blood and urine chromium were made out. Only traces of chromium in ranges of 0.05 to 3 µg/L was noticed in most patients.