Treatment
There is no cure for berylliosis; the goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms and slow the progression of disease.Although the evidence that stopping exposure to beryllium decreases progression of the disease is limited, it is still considered to be an accepted approach to treatment in any stage of disease.People with early stages of disease, without lung function abnormalities or clinical symptoms, are periodically monitored with physical exams, pulmonary function testing and radiography.Once clinical symptoms or significant abnormalities in pulmonary function testing appear, treatments include oxygen and oral corticosteroids and whatever supportive therapy is required. Outcomes
Overall mortality rates are 5–38%. Epidemiology
The number of workers in the United States exposed to beryllium vary but has been estimated to be as high as 800,000 during the 1960s and 1970s. A more recent study from 2004 estimated the number of exposed workers in the United States to be around 134,000.The rate of workers becoming sensitized to beryllium varies based on genetics and exposure levels. In one study researchers found the prevalence of beryllium sensitization to range from 9 - 19% depending on the industry. Many workers who are found to be sensitive to beryllium also meet the diagnostic criteria for CBD. In one study of nuclear workers, among those who were sensitized to beryllium, 66% were found to have CBD as well. The rate of progression from beryllium sensitization to CBD has been estimated to be approximately 6-8% per year.
Freys syndrome (also known as Baillargers syndrome, Dupuys syndrome, auriculotemporal syndrome, or Frey-Baillarger syndrome) is a rare neurological disorder resulting from damage to or near the parotid glands responsible for making saliva, and from damage to the auriculotemporal nerve often from surgery.The symptoms of Freys syndrome are redness and sweating on the cheek area adjacent to the ear (see focal hyperhidrosis). They can appear when the affected person eats, sees, dreams, thinks about or talks about certain kinds of food which produce strong salivation. Observing sweating in the region after eating a lemon wedge may be diagnostic. Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms include erythema (redness or flushing) and sweating in the cutaneous distribution of the auriculotemporal nerve, usually in response to gustatory stimuli. There is sometimes pain in the same area, often burning in nature. Between attacks of pain there may be numbness or other altered sensations (anesthesia or paresthesia). This is sometimes termed "gustatory neuralgia". Causes
Freys syndrome often results as a complication of surgeries of or near the parotid gland or due to injury to the auriculotemporal nerve, which passes through the parotid gland in the early part of its course. The auriculotemporal branch of the mandibular branch (V3) of the trigeminal nerve carries parasympathetic fibers to the parotid salivary gland and sympathetic fibers to the sweat glands of the scalp.