Mustard differential diagnosis

The differential diagnosis of mustard casualties on the battlefield after a known chemical attack is not difficult. The history of a chemical attack is useful, particularly if the chemical agent is known. Simply questioning the casualty about when the pain started, whether it started immediately after the exposure or hours later, is very helpful. Pain from Lewisite (the other vesicant that causes blistering) begins seconds to minutes after exposure pain from mustard does not begin until the lesion begins to develop hours later. 

All human studies dealing with chronic mustard disease processes are retrospective and fraught with the problems inherent in retrospective smdies. These problems include bias in the samphng populations lack of epidemiological controls from the effects of smoking, lifestyle, race, gender, age, or exposure to other chemicals differential quality of available health care and incorrect diagnosis. These limitations make absolute interpretation of the studies difficult. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , , , ]

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