Benign asbestos-related pleural disease

Our plain-English summary of Benign asbestos-related pleural disease, by C. King, D. Mayes, D.A. Dorsey (Disease-a-month, 2011).

The study

• Authors: C. King, D. Mayes, D.A. Dorsey
• Journal: Disease-a-month
• Published: 2011;57(1):27-39
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a narrative review, not an original study. It was written for clinicians about four non-cancerous pleural conditions linked to asbestos exposure: benign asbestos pleural effusion, circumscribed pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening, and rounded atelectasis. The authors described the clinical and imaging features of each condition, reviewed proposed ways asbestos fibers reach and affect the pleura, and gave follow-up recommendations. The numbers it reported were taken from earlier studies and sources that it cited. For example, the authors cited a cohort study by Epler and colleagues that found 34 benign effusions among 1135 asbestos-exposed workers (3%). They described pleural plaques as the commonest manifestation, affecting up to 50% of asbestos-exposed workers. They cited a report in which over 95% of 64 patients with diffuse pleural thickening complained of shortness of breath. The authors stated that these conditions are not premalignant but are markers of significant asbestos exposure and increased cancer risk. Citing 2003 American Thoracic Society guidelines, they recommended chest radiographs and lung function tests every 3 to 5 years.

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: narrative review of published literature on benign asbestos-related pleural disease
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the review drew on published studies of asbestos-exposed people and patients with benign pleural disease
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure in general; the review did not separate findings by fiber type
• Main results:
  • Cited from a cohort study by Epler and colleagues: 34 benign effusions among 1135 asbestos-exposed workers, a prevalence of 3%
  • The review described circumscribed pleural plaques as the commonest manifestation, affecting up to 50% of asbestos-exposed workers (from cited literature)
  • The review stated that only 50-80% of pleural plaques identified by CT or autopsy are recognizable on chest radiography
  • Cited from Yates et al.: among 64 patients with diffuse pleural thickening, over 95% complained of dyspnea and more than half reported chest pain
  • The review stated that malignant transformation of pleural plaques has not been demonstrated, but plaques appear to be a risk factor for mesothelioma
  • The authors stated that benign asbestos-related pleural diseases are not premalignant but mark significant exposure and increased cancer risk
  • The authors recommended, per 2003 American Thoracic Society guidelines, chest radiographs and pulmonary function tests every 3-5 years
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that benign asbestos-related pleural disease is common and will continue to be seen in the USA for decades. They concluded that all four conditions are markers of significant asbestos exposure and should prompt screening for asbestosis and thoracic cancers.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Related Pleural Disease.

Related studies

• Asbestos-related diffuse pleural thickening — N. Fujimoto, K. Kato, et al. (2014)
• Asbestos-related benign pleural disease — S.K. Morcos (2001)
• Asbestos-related pleural disease — R. Myers (2012)
• Biological responses to asbestos inhalation and pathogenesis of asbestos-related benign and malignant disease — E. Solbes, R.W. Harper (2018)
• Clinical value of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography in differentiation of malignant mesothelioma from asbestos-related benign pleural disease: an observational pilot study — H. Yildirim, M. Metintas, et al. (2009)
• Asbestos-related benign pleural disease — C. Peacock, S.J. Copley, et al. (2000)

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