[Use of ultrasonography in prophylactic examinations at an industrial enterprise]

The authors analyze the sonography data on the abdominal organs and thyroid in 1092 blue-collar and white-collar workers of one of the Moscow enterprises. The studies were carried out using the up-to-date outfits manufactured in Japan, working in the real time mode. Deviations from normal were revealed in 285 persons (26.1%). Of these, 66.4% manifested pathological alterations in one of the organs whereas in 1/3, the alterations went together. The most frequently occurring alterations in the liver included cholecystitis (46.9%), dystrophy (31.5%) as well as diffuse alterations in the organ structure of obscure genesis (15.4%). The most frequently demonstrated alterations in the urinary system were concrements (29.5%), cysts (22.7%) as well as deformities and dilatations of the pelvi-calyceal system (31.9%). The resolving power of ultrasonography in revealing concrements in the gallbladder constituted 0.5 cm, that in the kidneys, 0.3-0.5 cm. The rate of demonstration of different alterations in the thyroid amounted to 7.5%. Among them, more than half (54.3%) were diffuse enlargements and then there followed uninodular and combined goiters. The data obtained attest to a high clinical efficacy of ultrasonography in revealing latent pathology and different deviations from normal in the abdominal organs and thyroid in the working persons. It is suggested that the given method may be widely used as the basic one in prophylactic examinations of blue-collar and white-collar workers of industrial enterprises as well as a means of objective control over the health status of the follow-up and risk groups requiring examinations made over time and special additional examinations.