Clinical and paraclinical guidelines for management of sulfur mustard induced bronchiolitis obliterans; from bench to bedside

Abstract

It is well documented that inhalation of sulfur mustard (SM) causes injury to the respiratory system. Many Iranian civilians and war veterans are suffering from late respiratory complications of SM exposure. Recent studies have shown that bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is the major cause of respiratory complications following SM exposure. In this review, we focus on the clinical, pulmonary, radiological, immunological and pathological manifestations in SM-induced BO with intent to provide a practical, clinical and paraclinical guideline for diagnosis and step-wise workup of these patients, which may be used to manage similar lung injuries induced by other similar inhaled toxins.

Keywords::

• Sulfur mustard
• bronchiolitis obliterans
• respiratory complications
• clinical findings
• paraclinical

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Mohammad Hossein Kalantar-Motamedi for his kindly cooperation in preparing and revising the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.