Recommendations for performing specific inhalation challenge tests: Polish experience in relation to the European Respiratory Society guideliness

Abstract

A diagnosis of occupational diseases implicates some medical and legal consequences; therefore, the most specific and objective methods are needed in the diagnostic process. Specific inhalation challenge (SIC) tests currently play an irreplaceable role in diagnosing allergic airway diseases (e.g., allergic rhinitis, asthma) as well as allergic conjunctivitis and systemic reactions, also the occupational ones. In 2014, a team of the European Respiratory Society experts published a statement that provides practical recommendations for performing SIC tests in diagnosing occupational asthma. In the current publication, the authors discuss the European guidelines in the context of Polish experience of the reference center – the Department of Occupational Diseases and Environmental Health, the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź. The article describes the procedures and diagnostic criteria employed during SIC tests in diagnosing occupational asthma. Med Pr. 2020;71(3):381–97

Keywords

• specific inhalation challenge tests
• sic
• occupational allergy
• medical certification
• occupational asthma
• recommendations