• Silpa Dhoma Krefft, Matthew Strand, Jennifer Smith, Catherine Stroup, Richard Meehan, and Cecile Rose.
• National Jewish Health Denver, Denver, Colorado (Dr Krefft, Dr Strand, Smith, Stroup, Dr Meehan, Dr Rose); VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado (Dr Krefft); University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado (Drs Krefft, Strand, Rose); Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, Colorado (Drs Krefft, Strand, Rose).
• J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2017 Aug 1; 59 (8): 707-711.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine utility and sensitivity of lung clearance index (LCI) testing as a marker of lung injury in symptomatic military deployers compared with healthy controls.MethodsWe tested 24 healthy controls and 28 deployers with respiratory symptoms (17 of 28 with definite and 11 of 28 with probable deployment-related lung disease). We compared mean LCI scores between deployers and controls using t tests; adjusted tests were derived from multiple regression models.ResultsMean LCI scores were significantly higher (P = 0.001) in deployers [7.76, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 7.34 to 8.17] than controls (6.95, 95% CI 6.73 to 7.17). Adjusting for body mass index (BMI), smoking, and age, there were no significant differences (P = 0.10) between mean LCI scores in deployers (7.42, 95% CI 7.13 to 7.71) and controls (7.06, 95% CI 6.74 to 7.39).ConclusionsThe trend toward higher LCI scores in symptomatic deployers may be linked to underlying lung disease and/or BMI but requires further investigation in a larger population.

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