Asbestos-related pleural plaques: significance and associations

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos-related pleural plaques: significance and associations, by R. Abeyratne, P. Wills, S.W. Dubrey (BMJ Case Reports, 2013).

The study

• Authors: R. Abeyratne, P. Wills, S.W. Dubrey
• Journal: BMJ Case Reports
• Published: 2013;2013
• Type of article: Case report
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This was a brief case report, published as an image with commentary, by doctors at Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK. It described one 62-year-old man who presented with increasing shortness of breath. His chest x-ray showed multiple opacities, which the figure caption described as bilateral pleural plaques seen face-on and on the dome of the diaphragm. On questioning, he reported having worked at a local asbestos plant, and the authors described the appearances as consistent with asbestos-related pleural plaques. The report did not name a fiber type or say how long he worked there. In their commentary, the authors quoted an earlier review by other researchers on pleural plaques and cancer risk. They also noted that family members can have 'take-home' exposure, for example from washing a worker's contaminated clothing, which they said they had encountered locally. The authors concluded that a patient's occupation, family members' occupations, geographical location and local industries can focus the diagnosis when such a chest x-ray is seen. A single case does not show how often this occurs.

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 (short 'Images in' report: one chest x-ray with brief commentary)
• Who was studied: One patient: a 62-year-old man with increasing shortness of breath, reported by doctors at Hillingdon Hospital, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK (published 2013)
• Exposure: Work at a local asbestos plant; fiber type, job, duration and dose not given
• Main results:
  • The patient's chest x-ray showed multiple opacities
  • The figure caption described bilateral pleural plaques seen face-on and on the dome of the diaphragm
  • Given his work history, the authors described the x-ray appearances as consistent with asbestos-related pleural plaques
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that a patient's present or past occupation, family members' occupations, geographical location and local industries can focus the diagnosis when such a chest x-ray is seen

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Pleural plaques and thickening.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Plaques.

Related studies

• Environmental asbestos-related pleural plaque in southeast of Turkey — G. Ates, T. Yildiz, et al. (2010)
• Associations between radiographic findings and spirometry in a community exposed to Libby amphibole — T.C. Larson, M. Lewin, et al. (2012)
• Asbestos-related pleural plaques and lung function — L.C. Oliver, E.A. Eisen, et al. (1988)
• Do asbestos-related pleural plaques on HRCT scans cause restrictive impairment in the absence of pulmonary fibrosis? — B. Clin, C. Paris, et al. (2011)
• Asbestos-related lesions of the pleura: parietal plaques compared to diffuse thickening studied with chest roentgenography, computed tomography, lung function, and gas exchange — G. Hillerdal, P. Malmberg, et al. (1990)
• Asbestos-related pleural diseases: dimensional criteria are not appropriate to differentiate diffuse pleural thickening from pleural plaques — J. Ameille, M. Matrat, et al. (2004)

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