Return to Work After Release From Prison.

Work preservation is crucial for the reintegration of ex-prisoners and the prevention of recidivism. We describe the application of an interdisciplinary diagnostic protocol (occupational health visit, psychiatric interview, psychological counselling and testing) in the case of a dairy industry worker (female, 45-year-old), released on half-freedom after approximately a year of detention in prison for attempted murder. This crime can seriously hamper job resumption.

Work resumption after invasive heart procedures, rehabilitation and ergonomic evaluation: from the hospital to the workplace.

Our Institute adopts a multidisciplinary protocol named "CardioWork" for work resumption after invasive cardiac procedures and subsequent rehabilitation: after evaluation of the cardiac functional profile, the occupational physician analyzes the work activity prior to the cardiopathological event, identifies the presumed task energy requirement (from specific, published tables), and compares it with the exercise test results. Indications regarding the timing and modality of returning to work are formulated accordingly. To verify the reliability of the indications thus provided, we carried out a clinical-functional follow-up study in the workplace with Holter electrocardiography (ECG) and armband measurement of actual energy expenditure.

Brugada syndrome and job fitness: report of three cases.

Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inherited arrhythmogenic disorder predisposing patients to a high risk of sudden cardiac death. Specific guidelines on the health surveillance of BrS workers are lacking. We report here three cases requiring assessment of specific job capacity, investigated with an interdisciplinary protocol including 24-h Holter electrocardiography with modified precordial leads, pharmacological test with ajmaline, molecular genetic analysis, electrophysiological study with ventricular stimulation, risk stratification, and occupational medicine evaluation: (1) a female 42-yr-old company manager with positive ajmaline test and CACNA1C gene mutation (judged fit for the job with limitations regarding work-related stress); (2) a male 44-yr-old welder with positive ajmaline test, SCN5A gene mutation, and associated OSAS (obstructive sleep apnea syndrome), who was advised to refrain from night shifts and driving company vehicles; (3) a male 45-yr-old electrical technician with inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmia, who was implanted with a biventricular cardioverter defibrillator, and therefore recommended to avoid exposure to electromagnetic fields and working at heights.

[The new Maugeri diagnostic protocol for work-related stress and mobbing (MASD-2)].

Occupational stress can exceed the workers' individual capacity to adapt, and cause psychopathological conditions, including adjustment disorder (AD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for which medico-legal reporting is mandatory by law. Since the early 2000s, an interdisciplinary diagnostic protocol has been in use at our Institute to address patients towards an appropriate therapeutic path, in order to promote their psychological well-being and work reintegration. In 2017, the protocol was updated and expanded.

Job preservation by an office worker with idiopathic cervical dystonia: case report.

Background: Work preservation is a main goal in the rehabilitation of chronic disabling diseases. We describe the application of an interdisciplinary protocol, involving the occupational physician, the occupational therapist and the ergonomist, in the case of a 50 year-old office worker with idiopathic cervical dystonia, a movement disorder that can seriously impair work capability.

Case Report: The disease was diagnosed at age 25, and subsequently worsened.

Work-related post-traumatic stress disorder: report of five cases.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may arise after events involving a risk to physical integrity or to life, one's own or that of others. It is characterized by intrusive symptoms, avoidance behaviors, and hyper-excitability. Outside certain categories (e.

[{Health and work after invasive heart procedures, rehabilitation and occupational evaluation]].

Unlabelled: «Health and work after invasive heart procedures, rehabilitation and occupational evaluation».

Background:: Our previous experience with the “CardioWork” protocol (activated in 2005) demonstrated the usefulness of the interaction between occupational physician and cardiologist to facilitate work resumption after invasive heart procedures and subsequent rehabilitation, adapting the work tasks of the patients to the changed physical capabilities.

Objectives:: We surveyed the health conditions and employment status of the subjects previously studied, years after their completion of the protocol in order to verify its effectiveness over a long period of time.

Renal cell carcinoma and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma after occupational asbestos exposure: case report.

Unlabelled: Asbestos is the main causal factor for malignant mesothelioma (MM), a relatively rare and aggressive malignancy. Some epidemiological evidence suggests a role of this agent also in the etiology of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer.

Case Report: After 7 years of asbestos exposure, a 76-year-old asbestos-cement worker came to our notice with left flank pain.

[Role of occupational rehabilitation therapy in returning to work: experimental experience].

The experimental experience is the result of combining cultural, clinical and scientific interest in rehabilitative, occupational and forensic mnedicine and in ergonomics. It deals with the rehabilitation and return at work of patients with physical disabilities caused by occupational trauma or disease. The programme described starts with a selection by INAIL and involves with an outpatient surgery inclusion.

Imported occupational lead poisoning: report of four cases.

Background: In most industrialized countries, occupational lead poisoning has become increasingly rare, however this metal remains a serious health hazard in the rest of the world.

Report Of Cases: We observedfour male patients (aged 35 / 54 years) who had suffered recurrent abdominal pain due to recent lead exposure (for 7 to 13 months) in two Chinese battery recycling plants. On their return to Italy, three of them presented normocytic, normochromic anaemia.

[Malignant mesothelioma: analysis of a hospital case series].

The 2000-2010 case record of our Institute includes 77 cases of malignant mesothelioma (MM) [67 pleural (40 males, 27 females; mean age 63.9 years), 9 peritoneal (7 males, 2 females; 67.9 years) and one testicular (38 year-old man)], often associated, with various degree of probability, to previous asbestos exposure (occupational or environmental).

[Multidisciplinary protocol for work resumption after occupational osteoarticular injury: case record].

The results obtained with a protocol aimed at work resumption after occupational osteoarticular injury and subsequent rehabilitation are presented: 159 patients (102 males and 57 females: mean age 43.7 years) were evaluated by the physiatrist and the occupational physician, providing indications based on their functional capabilities and task features. After 6 months, 105 out of 130 subjects available for telephonic follow-up (80.

Return to work after coronary angioplasty or heart surgery: a 5-year experience with the "CardioWork" protocol.

Objective: The "CardioWork" protocol, for work resumption after invasive heart procedures and subsequent cardiac rehabilitation, is presented.

Methods: Over 5 years, 107 consecutive patients of working age were enrolled. Jobs were classified as multiples of basal metabolism according to the entity of physical strain.

Does job satisfaction predict early return to work after coronary angioplasty or cardiac surgery?

Purpose: Few studies have analyzed the relationship between job satisfaction and return to work (RTW) in cardiac patients. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether job satisfaction predicted early RTW in patients sick listed after cardiac invasive procedures.

Methods: A 6-month prospective study was carried out in a sample of 83 patients in working age who had recently been treated with angioplasty or cardiac surgery.

[Work-related stress and mobbing: case series and gender differences].

The attention of international agencies and scientific community on mobbing (bullying) and work-related stress is increasing. However, research on gender differences and etiologic agents is still limited. This study describes the gender differences found in victims of mobbing and work-related stress in an Italian case series.

Work-related stress and bullying: gender differences and forensic medicine issues in the diagnostic procedure.

Background: The attention of international agencies and scientific community on bullying and work-related stress is increasing. This study describes the gender differences found in victims of bullying and work-related stress in an Italian case series and analyzes the critical issues in the diagnostic workup.

Methods: Between 2001 and 2009 we examined 345 outpatients (148 males, 197 females; mean age: 41 ± 10.

[Return to work after occupational osteoarticular injury: presentation of a multidisciplinary protocol and preliminary data].

A protocol for work resumption after occupational osteoarticular injury and subsequent rehabilitation is presented: 97 patients (68 males and 29 females; mean age 42 years) were evaluated by the physiatrist and the occupational physician, providing indications based on their functional capabilities and task features. Up to date, 38 underwent follow-up at 6 months: 30 had returned to work (3 after changing tasks, 4 part-time). The mean time for work resumption was 15 days for the 26 subjects who resumed working completely, 1 month for the 4 who resumed partially.

[Stress risk evaluation in health personnel: framework and applicative experiences].

The Italian legislative decree 81/08 requires stress risk evaluation for all the workers, including health personnel. The present paper compares two different occupational stress evaluation procedures, tested in two North Italy sanitary structures: a) the first through subjective methods, based on self report questionnaires and focus groups; b) the second through an objective approach, utilizing the OSFA (Objective Stress Factors Analysis) method. The comparison of the two experiences indicates that the subjective approach may present several limitations, since it gives a measure of the "felt" stress, not directly related to the nature of the job.

Irritant vocal cord dysfunction and occupational bronchial asthma: differential diagnosis in a health care worker.

Objectives: Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is an uncommon respiratory disease characterized by the paradoxical adduction of vocal cords during inspiration, that may mimic bronchial asthma. The pathogenesis of VCD has not been clearly defined but it is possible to recognize non-psychologic and psychologic causes. The majority of patients are female but, interestingly, a high incidence of VCD has been documented in health care workers.

Two cases of asbestosis and one case of rounded atelectasis due to non-occupational asbestos exposure.

Asbestos is a well-known cause of several neoplastic (malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer) and non-neoplastic (asbestosis, pleuropathies) occupational diseases. Lower-level exposure in the general environment may induce pleural plaques and thickenings, and is associated with an increased mesothelioma risk. We present two patients (a 68-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman) who developed asbestosis (in association with pleural plaques and calcifications), and a 78-year-old man who developed rounded atelectasis (with pleural plaques and benign effusion), after living for several decades in the proximity of large Italian asbestos-cement plant.

[Management of occupational stress among patients with cardiac diseases].

The object of our study was the evaluation of psycophysic condition, stress perception and coping in a sample of subject in cardiac rehabilitation. Our study recruited 48 worker patients (44 male, M = 50.5 +/- 8.

[Exercise electrocardiography in the sanitary surveillance of workers with physical strain].

To evaluate the opportunity of exercise electrocardiography (ECG) in the sanitary surveillance of workers with physical strain, we estimated the energy consumption of the duties of 22 electrical workers (males; age: 35-56 years). They subsequently underwent Treadmill exercise ECG, determining for each worker the maximal METs (multiples of basal metabolism) and the critical potency (P(CRIT)). In one subject, myocardial ischemia arose 9 minutes after the beginning of the test.

[Rhabdomyolysis in a worker exposed to paraffinic mineral oils. Unusual association with bronchiolitis obliterans and organizing pneumonia (BOOP)].

We describe a 29-year-old worker; exposed to metal dust, sawdust and paraffinic mineral oils in a factory producing accessories for leather articles and clothing, who came to observation with fever (39 degrees C), chest pain and marked increase of muscular enzymes. Chest computed tomography showed two areas of lung consolidation, that subsequently appeared enlarged with central escavation. Lung biopsy lead to the diagnosis of BOOP.

[Analysis of a case series of workers with mobbing syndrome].

Mobbing represents nowadays a major challenge for Occupational Medicine. We examined, during the last seven years, 253 patients who asked medical assistance for psychopathological problems by them ascribed to mobbing in the working environment. All patients underwent occupational health visit, psychological counselling (including personality tests administration), and psychiatric evaluation.