Endothelioma (mesothelioma) of the pleura; presentation of a case treated surgically

Our plain-English summary of Endothelioma (mesothelioma) of the pleura; presentation of a case treated surgically, by L.A. Hochberg, I.G. Epstein, M. Pernikoff (Diseases of the Chest, 1947).

The study

• Authors: L.A. Hochberg, I.G. Epstein, M. Pernikoff
• Journal: Diseases of the Chest
• Published: 1947;13(6):621-6
• Cited by: 10 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. 001938).

In plain English

This 1947 article was a case report of one patient with what the authors called endothelioma (mesothelioma) of the pleura, treated by surgical removal at Bushwick Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. The patient was a 54-year-old Italian woman with chest pain, asthenia (weakness) and blood-tinged sputum. Her aches had begun about five years before admission. A chest X-ray showed a single round mass about two inches across in the left lung field that suggested a benign growth, and the diagnosis before surgery was a benign tumor of the left lung. At surgery on May 9, 1946, the surgeons found a well-circumscribed tumor embedded in the left lung that did not appear to arise from the lung tissue itself. The pleura over it was thickened and fused with it. The removed tumor measured 5x4x4 cm. The pathologist wrote that its appearance suggested blood vessel origin and diagnosed angioendothelioma of the pleura. The article did not mention asbestos or the patient's occupation, and it reported no follow-up after surgery.

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 (single patient), with a brief review of earlier writers' views on the tumor's origin
• Who was studied: One 54-year-old Italian woman admitted to Bushwick Hospital, Brooklyn, New York; operated on May 9, 1946
• Main results:
  • The patient's symptoms began about five years before her admission to Bushwick Hospital, as intermittent dull aches in the left side of the back below the shoulder blade
  • The chest X-ray showed a single spherical mass about two inches in diameter in the left lung field, suggestive of a benign growth
  • Before surgery the tumor was diagnosed as a benign tumor of the left lung
  • At surgery the pleura over the tumor was thickened, and the tumor was embedded in the lung but did not appear to originate from lung tissue
  • The removed tumor was well encapsulated and measured 5x4x4 cm
  • The pathologist judged that blood vessel origin was probable and diagnosed angioendothelioma of the pleura
• The authors' conclusion: The authors drew no broader conclusion. They summarized the article as a brief overview of pleural endothelioma together with the report of a case in which surgical removal was carried out.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Pleura.

Related studies

• Diffuse mesothelioma of the pleura and asbestos — P.C. Elmes, W.T. McCaughey, et al. (1965)
• Localized mesotheliomas of the pleura. The pathologic evaluation of 18 cases — E.A. Foster, L.V. Ackerman (1960)
• Exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma of the pleura — P.B. Fowler, J.C. Sloper, et al. (1964)
• Fibre distribution in the lungs and pleura of subjects with asbestos related diffuse pleural fibrosis — A.R. Gibbs, M. Stephens, et al. (1991)
• Quantification of the pathological response and fate in the lung and pleura of chrysotile in combination with fine particles compared to amosite-asbestos following short-term inhalation exposure — D.M. Bernstein, R.A. Rogers, et al. (2011)
• The pathological response and fate in the lung and pleura of chrysotile in combination with fine particles compared to amosite asbestos following short-term inhalation exposure: interim results — D.M. Bernstein, R.A. Rogers, et al. (2010)

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