Asbestosis: report of a case

Our plain-English summary of Asbestosis: report of a case, by E.R. Wiese, W.E. Hall (Diseases of the Chest, 1956).

The study

• Authors: E.R. Wiese, W.E. Hall
• Journal: Diseases of the Chest
• Published: 1956;30(2):229-30
• Cited by: 2 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. 001848).

In plain English

This article was a case report about one man treated at the Mont Alto Sanatorium in Pennsylvania. He was an unmarried white man aged 47, admitted on May 13, 1953, with weakness, weight loss and shortness of breath. He had worked in the dusty atmosphere of an asbestos plant for 38 years before his illness began in February 1953. The article did not name the type of asbestos. A company chest x-ray from December 1945 had shown shadows consistent with approximately second stage asbestosis. In the sanatorium his condition improved for a little over four months. Sputum tests found neither acid-fast bodies nor asbestosis bodies. He worsened suddenly on September 20 and died on September 23, 1953. At autopsy the lungs were firm and leathery, with widespread fibrosis and no indications of tubercle formation. All chambers of the heart were greatly dilated, especially the right side. Under the microscope, typical asbestosis bodies and fine needles representing asbestos fibres were seen in the lungs, and small asbestosis bodies were seen in the lymph nodes. The article stated no separate conclusion.

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 (a single patient, including autopsy findings)
• Who was studied: One unmarried white man, 47 years old, admitted to the Mont Alto Sanatorium, Pennsylvania, on May 13, 1953
• Exposure: Worked in the dusty atmosphere of an asbestos plant for 38 years before his illness began in February 1953. The fiber type was not stated.
• Main results:
  • A company chest x-ray taken in December 1945 showed shadows consistent with approximately second stage asbestosis, along with some dilatation of the right heart
  • Laboratory work found neither acid-fast bodies nor asbestosis bodies in his sputum
  • His condition worsened abruptly on September 20, and he died on September 23, 1953
  • At autopsy the lungs showed widespread fibrosis, with no suppuration, caseation or indications of tubercle formation
  • All heart chambers were greatly dilated, particularly the right side, which was also hypertrophied
  • Under the microscope, typical asbestosis bodies were found in the lungs, and fine needles representing the original asbestos fibres were seen under polarized light
  • Areas of focal fibrosis in the lymph nodes contained small asbestosis bodies

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Rheumatoid lung changes associated with asbestosis — A.G. Rickards, G.M. Barrett (1958)
• Mixed pneumoconiosis: silicosis, asbestosis, talcosis, and berylliosis — G.J. Mark, C.B. Monroe, et al. (1979)
• Silicosis, asbestosis, and cancer of the lung — W.C. Hueper (1955)
• Carcinoma of the lung in asbestosis: report of two additional cases — K.M. Lynch, H.R. Pratt-Thomas (1955)
• Carcinoma and asbestosis of the lung; report of a case — T.K. Owen (1951)
• Silicosis and asbestosis: diagnosis, prevention and treatment — O.A. Sander (1955)

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