High rates of respiratory symptoms (14%) and new-onset asthma in previously healthy soldiers (6.6%) have been reported among military personnel post-deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. The term Iraq/Afghanistan War-Lung Injury (IAW-LI) is used to describe the constellation of respiratory diseases related to hazards of war, such as exposure to burning trash in burn pits, improvised explosive devices, and sandstorms. Burnpits360.org is a nonprofit civilian website which voluntarily tracks medical symptoms among soldiers post-deployment to the Middle East. Subsequent to initiation of the Burnpits360.org website, the Department of Veterans Affairs started the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit registry. This paper: (a) analyzes the latest 38 patients in the Burnpits360.org registry, validated by DD214 Forms; (b) compares strengths and weaknesses of both registries as outlined at the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine Burn Pits Workshop;
Keywords: Afghanistan; Burn pits; IAW-LI; IED; IOS; Iraq; Iraq/Afghanistan War-Lung Injury; Lung Injury; PM; constrictive bronchiolitis; dust; exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension; health awareness; improvised explosive devices; impulse oscillometry; lung biopsy; particulate matter; pollen; public health; quality of life; vascular remodeling.
(c) further characterizes the spectrum of disease in IAW-LI; (d) describes the risk factors of affected populations; (e) summarizes current practices regarding management of the condition; and (f) defines future research objectives.