[The Work Ability Index in hospital workers].

The Work Ability Index was used as a complementary tool for the periodical health surveillance of health care workers in order to evaluate their functional working capacity and to plan more appropriate preventive and compensatory measures. 867 health care workers of both sexes (337 men, 530 women), aged between 23 to 65 years and with a work experience from 0.5 to 48 years were examined.

[Exposure to the risk of the manual lifting of patients and the results of a clinical study in 4 hospital establishments of northern Italy].

The paper reports the results of a study carried out in four hospitals in northern Italy to assess exposure to patient handling and the consequent risks for the lumbar region of the spine. The methods proposed by the EPM Research Unit were used. Altogether, in the four hospitals there were 148 wards and 5596 staff.

Acute trichloroethylene poisoning by ingestion: clinical and pharmacokinetic aspects.

Five hours after ingestion of an unknown amount of trichloroethylene (TCE) a 32-year-old woman was admitted to hospital in deep coma. The neurological condition remained unchanged for 3 days, after which there was an improvement of the central nervous system function. The concentrations of TCE in the blood, which were measured during 7 days after the solvent ingestion, gave us the opportunity to study some toxicokinetic parameters of TCE.

"Dynamic" biological exposure indexes for n-hexane and 2,5-hexanedione, suggested by a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model.

Biological exposure index (BEI) of n-hexane was studied for accuracy using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PB-PK) model. The kinetics of n-hexane in alveolar air, blood, urine, and other tissues were simulated for different values of alveolar ventilations and also for constant and variable exposures. The kinetics of 2,5-hexanedione, the toxic n-hexane metabolite, were also simulated.

[Peripheral neuropathy caused by incongruous posture in shoe manufacture workers].

Nine cases of local neuropathy are described in shoe-manufacture workers. Clinical and electrophysiological examination excluded diseases such as toxic polyneuropathies due to n-hexane. Specific lesions of the ulnar nerve were located near the elbow where the forced and uncomfortable posture facilitated the compression of the nerve in the cubital tunnel.