Determinants of restrictive lung function in asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis

Our plain-English summary of Determinants of restrictive lung function in asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis, by C.J. Bergin (Journal of Applied Physiology, 1991).

The study

• Author: C.J. Bergin
• Journal: Journal of Applied Physiology
• Published: 1991;70(1):472-3
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a letter to the editor, not a research study. The author commented on an article by Schwartz and co-workers, who had used high-resolution CT (HRCT) scans in 24 subjects to look at why people with asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis can have restrictive lung function. The author argued that the original article's claim that HRCT-detected lung fibrosis was closely associated with pleural fibrosis was not justified, because of how the scans were read. The scan-reading method counted features that, according to the author, do not on their own indicate fibrosis. The author pointed to later publications disputing a link between subpleural curvilinear densities and fibrosis, and stated that increased dependent densities are common on HRCT scans. The author wrote that, in their own experience, honeycomb lung is one of the few reliable signs of lung fibrosis. The author suggested Schwartz and co-workers had found no association between pleural fibrosis and radiologically acceptable criteria for lung fibrosis. The author called for HRCT studies in people not exposed to asbestos, and for studies comparing HRCT with lung pathology.

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: Letter to the editor commenting on a previously published study (no new data)
• Who was studied: No study population of its own. The letter discusses the Schwartz and co-workers study, which evaluated HRCT scans in 24 subjects with asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general. The letter concerns asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis and names no fiber types, products or jobs.
• Main results:
  • The author argued that treating nonspecific HRCT features as signs of lung fibrosis, and then linking that fibrosis to pleural plaques, was inaccurate and misleading.
  • The author cited later publications that disputed any link between some of the HRCT features used, such as subpleural curvilinear densities, and lung fibrosis.
  • The author stated that increased dependent densities are common on HRCT scans.
  • From the author's own HRCT experience, honeycomb lung is one of the few reliable indicators of lung fibrosis.
  • The author called for more work on HRCT features in the lungs of people not exposed to asbestos.
• The authors' conclusion: The author suggested that Schwartz and co-workers had found no association between pleural fibrosis and radiologically acceptable criteria for lung fibrosis.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Restrictive Lung Disease, Fibrosis.

Related studies

• Determinants of restrictive lung function in asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis — D.A. Schwartz, J.R. Galvin, et al. (1990)
• Restrictive lung function and asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis. A quantitative approach — D.A. Schwartz, J.R. Galvin, et al. (1993)
• Pleural determinants of restrictive lung function and respiratory symptoms in an asbestos-exposed population — A. Broderick, L.J. Fuortes, et al. (1992)
• Pleural determinants of restrictive lung function and respiratory symptoms in an asbestos-exposed population — P.H. Wright (1993)
• Asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis and impaired lung function — D.A. Schwartz, L.J. Fuortes, et al. (1990)
• Asbestos induced diffuse pleural fibrosis: pathology and mineralogy — M. Stephens, A.R. Gibbs, et al. (1987)

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