COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Benton, Coleman and Willis 

WAMPLER-LONGACRE CHICKEN, INC. 

AND 

PACIFIC EMPLOYERS INSURANCE COMPANY 

v. Record No. 2271-94-3 MEMORANDUM OPINION*

 PER CURIAM 

SHIRLEY ANN BILLER MAY 9, 1995 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' 

COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

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

brief), for appellants. 

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

 The sole issue raised by Wampler-Longacre Chicken, Inc. and 

its insurer (hereinafter collectively referred to as "employer") 

is whether the Workers' Compensation Commission erred in finding 

that Shirley Ann Biller's bilateral trigger thumbs qualifies as a 

compensable occupational "disease" under Code § 65.2-400. 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. 

 The facts are not in dispute. Biller worked for employer in 

the "rehang" section of its chicken processing plant. Her duties 

included grasping a chicken in each hand and putting it on 

shackles that were located directly in front of her. She handled 

approximately twenty-five to thirty chickens per minute, during 

 

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

designated for publication. 
 2 

her eight-hour shift, with two one-half hour breaks. 

 In November 1993, Biller began treatment with Dr. Galen G. 

Craun because her thumbs had locked in extension. On November 

29, 1993, Dr. Craun diagnosed bilateral trigger thumbs, also 

called tenosynovitis. Dr. Craun opined that it was more probable 

than not that Biller's condition was directly related to her 

employment. Biller underwent release surgery in December 1993. 

In a February 7, 1994 letter to Biller's attorney, Dr. Craun 

opined that Biller's condition is a disease. 

 In his May 2, 1994 de bene esse deposition, Dr. Craun 

described the disease of bilateral trigger thumbs as follows: 

 Trigger thumb is a condition that is 

inflammatory that involves the lining of the 

flexor tendons, in this case, of the thumb, 

although you can get this condition in any 

finger, and the lining of the tendon, called 

the synovin, gets inflamed, and when it does, 

the tendon sheath does not properly glide in 

the flexor pulley at the metacarpal flange 

level. In other words, there's a swelling of 

the tendon sheath. This causes 

malfunctioning or glide of the flexor tendon 

in the flexor pulley, and this initially 

starts with pain but eventually causes 

catching or triggering of the thumb. 

 The commission found that Biller's bilateral trigger thumbs 

constituted an occupational disease. In Merillat Industries, 

Inc. v. Parks, 246 Va. 429, 432, 436 S.E.2d 600, 601 (1993), the 

Supreme Court of Virginia held that the Workers' Compensation Act 

"requires that the condition for which compensation is sought as 

an occupational disease must first qualify as a disease." This 

Court defined "disease" as 
 3 

 any deviation from or interruption of the 

normal structure or function of any part, 

organ, system (or combination thereof) of the 

body that is manifested by a characteristic 

set of symptoms and signs and whose etiology, 

pathology, and prognosis may be known or 

unknown. 

Piedmont Mfg. Co. v. East, 17 Va. App. 499, 503, 438 S.E.2d 769, 

772 (1993). "[T]he word 'disease' has a well-established 

meaning, and . . . no significant disparity exists among the 

definitions of that term promulgated by various authorities." 

Commonwealth, Dep't of State Police v. Haga, 18 Va. App. 162, 

165, 442 S.E.2d 424, 426 (1994). 

 "Upon appellate review, the findings of fact made by the 

Workers' Compensation Commission will be upheld when supported by 

credible evidence." Id. at 166, 442 S.E.2d at 426. Sufficient 

credible evidence supports the commission's finding that Biller's 

condition was compensable as an occupational disease. Dr. Craun 

specifically stated that bilateral trigger thumbs was a 

"disease," and his diagnosis and description of this condition 

satisfies the definition of disease enunciated in Piedmont, 17 

Va. App. at 503, 438 S.E.2d at 772. 

 Accordingly, the commission's decision is affirmed. 

 Affirmed.