Table 1.
Subjects’ characteristics and dust load. Data are given as median (range), or n (%) unless otherwise stated
| Sarcoidosis patients (n=20) | Healthy volunteers (n=20) | P | |
| Age, years median (min-max) | 38.5 (25-48) | 33.5 (20-47) | 0.132 |
| Male gender | 14 (70) | 14 (70) | 1 |
| Region of origin | 0.009 | ||
| Europe | 11* (55) | 19 + (95) | |
| Northern Africa | 4 (20) | 1 (5) | |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 2 (10) | 0 (0) | |
| USA | 2 (10) | 0 (0) | |
| Middle East (Iraq) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) | |
| Smoking status (pack-years) | 1 | ||
| 0-5 | 17 (85) | 17 (85) | |
| 5-10 | 2 (10) | 2 (10) | |
| >10 | 1 (5) | 1 (5) | |
| Sarcoidosis stage | - | ||
| I | 6 (30) | - | |
| II | 10 (50) | - | |
| III | 2 (10) | - | |
| IV | 2 (10) | - | |
| Building activity subscore | 6.5 (0-40) | 0 (0-27) | 0.018 |
| Overall dust load (particles/mL) | 101,611 (43,347-1,247,038) | 121,742 (57,213-260,417) | 0.589 |
| Dust exposure score | 29.5 (5-118) | 15.5 (0-75) | 0.062 |
| Specific dust load | |||
| Aluminosilicate | 56,437 (15,058-773,164) | 63,889 (29,751-190,104) | 0.530 |
| Silica | 15,655 (434-311,760) | 12,839 (4,213-32,661) | 0.328 |
| Titanium compound | 434 (434-37,411) | 2,881 (434-46,967) | 0.343 |
| Titanium oxide | 6,097 (434-68,743) | 6,042 (434-57,613) | 0.802 |
| Iron oxide | 434 (434-40,155) | 3021 (434-18,519) | 0.418 |
| Steel | 434 (434-13,749) | 434 (434-3,841) | 0.029 |
| Chromium compound | 434 (434-16,944) | 434 (434-434) | 0.075 |
| Chromium oxide | 434 (434-2,947) | 434 (434-22,634) | 0.913 |
| Aluminium compound | 434 (434-434) | 434 (434-8,230) | 0.152 |
| Talc | 434 (434-7,113) | 434 (434-6,173) | 0.970 |
* France 9, Portugal 2; + France 18, Italy 1;