COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Chief Judge Moon, Senior Judges Cole and Duff 

WAMPLER-LONGACRE, INC. 

AND 

PACIFIC EMPLOYERS INSURANCE COMPANY MEMORANDUM OPINION*

 PER CURIAM 

v. Record No. 1506-95-3 NOVEMBER 21, 1995 

 

SHIRLEY M. YOUNG 

FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 (Cathleen P. Welsh; Wharton, Aldhizer & Weaver, on 

brief), for appellants. 

 (A. Thomas Lane, Jr., on brief), for appellee. 

 Wampler-Longacre, Inc. and its insurer (hereinafter 

collectively referred to as "employer") contend that the Workers' 

Compensation Commission erred in finding that Shirley M. Young's 

left lateral epicondylitis and right trigger thumb qualify as 

compensable occupational diseases within the meaning of "disease" 

under the Workers' Compensation Act ("the Act"). Upon reviewing 

the record and the briefs of the parties, we conclude that this 

appeal is without merit. Accordingly, we summarily affirm the 

commission's decision. Rule 5A:27. 

 

 *Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 
 2 

 The facts are not in dispute. The parties stipulated that 

Young's job as a poultry worker required repetitive use of her 

hands and arms and that she was not exposed to the causative 

hazards of these conditions outside of her employment. They also 

stipulated that Dr. Edward G. Chappell, Jr., Young's treating 

orthopedic surgeon, told her, on February 17, 1994, that she 

suffered from right trigger thumb and left lateral epicondylitis 

related to her work. Dr. Chappell opined that Young's conditions 

were "a consequence of her work" and that her job "directly 

resulted" in these conditions. Dr. Chappell defined these 

conditions as "repetitive motion disorders." Based upon Dr. 

Chappell's opinions and the medical dictionary definitions of 

epicondylitis and trigger finger, the commission found that 

Young's conditions constituted "diseases" caused by her 

employment.1

 The commission did not err in using the general medical 

definitions of epicondylitis and trigger finger to find that 

Young's conditions qualified as "diseases." In Perdue Farms, 

Inc. v. McCutchan, 21 Va. App. 65, 69, 461 S.E.2d 431, 433 

(1995), we used the definition of carpal tunnel syndrome in 

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary to find that it 

 

 1Using the Sloan-Dorland Medical Legal Dictionary, the 

commission defined epicondylitis as an "inflammation of the 

epicondyle or the tissues adjoining the epicondyle of the 

humerus." Using the same dictionary, the commission defined 

trigger finger as "due to stenosing tendovaginitis." The 

dictionary defined tendovaginitis as the "same as tenosynovitis," 

which is an "inflammation of a tendon sheath." 
 3 

qualified as a "disease" under the definition of disease we 

adopted in Piedmont Mfg. Co. v. East, 17 Va. App. 499, 503, 438 

S.E.2d 769, 772 (1993). The Sloan-Dorland definitions place 

epicondylitis and trigger finger within the definition of disease 

set forth in Piedmont and approved of in Perdue. 

 On appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable 

to the prevailing party below. R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. 

Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990). This 

Court will uphold the commission's factual findings if supported 

by credible evidence. James v. Capitol Steel Constr. Co., 8 Va. 

App. 512, 515, 382 S.E.2d 487, 488 (1989). 

 As in Perdue, Young's conditions did not present as 

obvious, sudden, mechanical or structural changes in her body. 

Rather, credible evidence supports the commission's finding that 

Young's left lateral epicondylitis and right trigger thumb are 

conditions characterized as "diseases" within the meaning of the 

Act. 

 Accordingly, we affirm the commission's decision. 

 Affirmed.