Abdominal pain and bloating in an auto mechanic

Our plain-English summary of Abdominal pain and bloating in an auto mechanic, by L. Neshatian, M. Halland, A.S. Arora (Gastroenterology, 2014).

The study

• Authors: L. Neshatian, M. Halland, A.S. Arora
• Journal: Gastroenterology
• Published: 2014;146(7):1610-1
• Type of article: Case report
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a case report about one patient, written by authors from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and published as an image quiz in the journal's "Clinical Challenges and Images in GI" section. He was a 56-year-old auto mechanic with six weeks of symptoms including fever, night sweats, abdominal pain and swelling, and a 15-kg weight loss. He had Crohn's disease and had stopped smoking 20 years earlier. A CT scan showed extensive infiltration of the greater omentum, a fatty layer inside the abdomen, with a "salt-and-pepper" pattern. A CT-guided biopsy of an omental lymph node was consistent with epithelioid-type malignant mesothelioma. Staging confirmed primary peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer of the abdominal lining, with no lesions in the mediastinum (the middle of the chest). The authors wrote that his occupational asbestos exposure was thought to come from repairing automotive brakes and clutches. The article did not name a fiber type or say how exposure was assessed. Because the disease was extensive, surgery was not offered, and he began pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy. A single case does not show how often this happens.

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: case report (clinical image quiz)
• Who was studied: One 56-year-old man who worked as an auto mechanic, with a history of Crohn's disease and of 30 pack-years of smoking, stopped 20 years earlier. The authors are from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. The article does not state where or when the patient was seen.
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure thought to come from repairing automotive brakes and clutches; no fiber type, dose or exposure measurement reported
• Main results:
  • The patient had a 6-week history of symptoms including fever, chills, night sweats, malaise, nausea, abdominal pain and distention, with a 15-kg weight loss
  • Abdominal CT showed extensive infiltration of the greater omentum with a salt-and-pepper pattern and omental caking
  • CT-guided biopsy of an omental lymph node was consistent with epithelioid-type malignant mesothelioma
  • Complete staging confirmed primary peritoneal mesothelioma with no mediastinal lesions
  • Because of extensive peritoneal involvement, surgery was not offered; the patient was referred to medical oncology and started pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that the patient's occupational history raised the likelihood of peritoneal mesothelioma, and that his asbestos exposure was thought to be from brake and clutch repair

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Auto mechanics and brake work, Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Peritoneal mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Acute severe abdominal pain in a young woman caused by a well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma of the peritoneum — J.E. Bousema, K.M. van de Luijtgaarden, et al. (2019)
• Mesothelioma among car mechanics? — H.J. Woitowitz, K. Rödelsperger (1994)
• Warning auto mechanics about asbestos hazards — J. LaDou (2004)
• A multicystic tumor causing intermittent pain in a young man — E.V. Madsen, I.H. de Hingh (2014)
• Malignant mesothelioma and asbestos exposure among auto mechanics: appraisal of scientific evidence — O. Wong (2001)
• Benign cystic mesothelioma of the liver: A rare hepatic cyst — W. Wang, H.Y. Lai, et al. (2021)

Browse more research in Gastroenterology, or return to medical research.