A comparison of asbestos burden in lung parenchyma, lymph nodes, and plaques

Our plain-English summary of A comparison of asbestos burden in lung parenchyma, lymph nodes, and plaques, by R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, C.J. Corn, et al (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1991).

The study

• Authors: R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, C.J. Corn, A. Brollo, C. Bianchi
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1991;643:53-60
• Cited by: 40 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004497).

Summary of the article

This study examined whether asbestos that reaches the lymph nodes and pleural plaques can be measured, and how that burden compares with the burden in the lung. The authors cited an earlier statement that plaques and pleura are not useful for mineral analysis, and they designed the study to test it. Tissue was collected at autopsy at the General Hospital of Monfalcone, Italy, from eight former shipyard workers (seven men and one woman, aged 58 to 82). Lung tissue, tracheal lymph nodes and pleural plaques were digested. Ferruginous bodies were counted by light microscopy. Uncoated fibers of 0.5 µm or longer were counted, identified and measured by transmission electron microscopy. Lung tissue contained 269 to 853,000 ferruginous bodies per gram dry weight. In three people, ferruginous bodies were more numerous in the nodes than in the lung. None were found in plaques. Uncoated fibers per gram were greater in the nodes than in the lung. For each of the eight people, the highest uncoated fiber count was in an extrapulmonary site: the plaques in two and the nodes in six. Most fibers at all sites were short, but fibers longer than 10 µm were found in both nodes and plaques. Under light microscopy counting rules (fibers longer than 5 µm), none of the chrysotile and only 5% to 10% of amphiboles would have been counted. The longest lung fiber, a 65 µm chrysotile fiber, was 0.03 µm wide. The authors concluded that asbestos reaches both lymph nodes and pleura, and that counting criteria and detection limits must be defined.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This study examined tissue collected at autopsy from eight former shipyard workers at the General Hospital of Monfalcone, Italy. The authors compared the asbestos found in lung tissue with that found in tracheal lymph nodes and pleural plaques. They used light microscopy to count ferruginous (asbestos) bodies and transmission electron microscopy to identify and measure uncoated chrysotile and amphibole fibers. Every person's lung contained ferruginous bodies, ranging from 269 to 853,000 per gram of dry tissue. No ferruginous bodies were found in the plaques, but uncoated fibers were. Uncoated fiber counts per gram were greater in the lymph nodes than in the lung. In all eight people, the highest uncoated fiber count was outside the lung: in the plaques for two people and in the nodes for six. Most fibers at every site were short, although fibers longer than 10 micrometers were found in both nodes and plaques. The authors concluded that asbestos reaches both the lymph nodes and the pleura, and that fiber-counting rules and detection limits must be clearly defined.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Autopsy tissue study of a small case series, measuring asbestos bodies and fibers in three sites per person
• Who was studied: Eight former shipyard workers whose tissues were collected at autopsy at the General Hospital of Monfalcone, Italy. The sites sampled were lung tissue, tracheal lymph nodes and pleural plaques.
• Exposure: Past occupational exposure in shipyard work. Uncoated fibers were classified as chrysotile or amphibole; the amphibole types are not specified.
• Main results:
  • The lung tissue of every person contained ferruginous bodies, from 269 to 853,000 per gram of dry tissue.
  • Ferruginous body content was higher in the lymph nodes than in the lung in three of the eight persons.
  • No ferruginous bodies were found in the pleural plaques.
  • The uncoated fiber burden, expressed as fibers per gram dry weight, was greater in the lymph nodes than in the lung.
  • For each of the eight people, the greatest number of uncoated fibers per gram was found outside the lung: in the plaques for two people and in the nodes for the other six.
  • Most fibers at all three sites were short. Fibers longer than 10 micrometers were nonetheless found in both the lymph nodes and the plaques.
  • Under light microscopy counting rules (fibers longer than 5 micrometers, with a resolution limit of 0.2 or 0.25 micrometers), none of the chrysotile fibers and only a small percentage of the amphibole fibers would have been counted.
  • Using the Stanton guideline (fibers 8 micrometers or longer), chrysotile fibers of this length were found in the lung and plaques, and amphibole fibers of this length were found in all three sites. As percentages of uncoated fibers, chrysotile was 0.3% in plaque, 6% in lung and 0% in node; amphiboles were 10% in plaque, 23% in lung and 3% in node.
  • The longest uncoated fibers in the plaques (13 micrometers) and in the nodes (37 micrometers) were amphiboles.
  • The longest uncoated fiber in the lung was a 65-micrometer chrysotile fiber. Its width (0.03 micrometers) was below the resolution of light microscopy.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that asbestos reaches both the lymph nodes and the pleura. They stated that studies need to define their counting criteria and detection limits, and that counting only some fibers can mislead if the results are taken to represent the whole tissue burden.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Parenchyma, Pleural Plaques, Pleura, Autopsy, Ferruginous Bodies, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fibers Per Gram, Chrysotile.

Related studies

• Asbestos content of lung tissue, lymph nodes, and pleural plaques from former shipyard workers — R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, et al. (1990)
• Characteristics of asbestos concentration in lung as compared to asbestos concentration in various levels of lymph nodes that collect drainage from the lung — R.F. Dodson, S. Shepherd, et al. (2007)
• Pleural mesothelioma in a woman whose documented past exposure to asbestos was from smoking asbestos-containing filtered cigarettes: the comparative value of analytical transmission electron microscopic analysis of lung and lymph-node tissue — R.F. Dodson, S.P. Hammar (2006)
• Asbestos fibers in para-aortic and mesenteric lymph nodes — T. Uibu, E. Vanhala, et al. (2009)
• Asbestos content in the lymph nodes of nonoccupationally exposed individuals — R.F. Dodson, J. Huang, et al. (2000)
• Intrapulmonary lymph nodes. Clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features — R.L. Kradin, P.W. Spirn, et al. (1985)

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