Exercise impairment in asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis. Is it really just interstitial fibrosis?

Our plain-English summary of Exercise impairment in asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis. Is it really just interstitial fibrosis?, by E.T. Mannix, W.J. Martin (Chest, 1994).

The study

• Authors: E.T. Mannix, W.J. Martin
• Journal: Chest
• Published: 1994;105(5):1312-3
• Type of article: Comment, Editorial
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was an editorial, not a research study, and it reported no new data of its own. The authors commented on a study by Shih and coworkers, published in the same issue of Chest. That study looked at whether research subjects with only radiographic evidence of asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis had abnormal lung physiology during maximal exercise. According to the editorial, Shih and coworkers found that patients without x-ray evidence of asbestosis could have significant impairment of gas exchange at maximal exercise. This showed as an elevated alveolar-arterial oxygen difference and an elevated ratio of dead space ventilation to tidal volume. It occurred in subjects with diffuse pleural thickening but not in subjects with a normal pleura or with pleural plaques alone. The editorial said subjects with pleural thickening did not show high breathing rates or low tidal volumes, so the findings were not likely caused by restricted chest wall mechanics. The authors wrote that if future studies support these findings, the category of diffuse pleural thickening might identify people at risk for parenchymal lung disease.

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: Editorial commenting on a study by Shih and coworkers published in the same issue of Chest; no original data
• Who was studied: No population was studied in this editorial. It discusses Shih and coworkers' research subjects who had only radiographic evidence of asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis. The editorial gives no numbers or setting for them.
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure in general. No fiber type, product, job or dose is named.
• Main results:
  • As described by the editorial (Shih and coworkers' finding, not this article's data): patients with no x-ray evidence of asbestosis could have significant impairment of gas exchange at maximal exercise
  • As described by the editorial (Shih and coworkers' finding): the impairment was shown by an elevated dead space ventilation to tidal volume ratio, along with an elevated alveolar-arterial oxygen difference, at maximal exercise
  • As described by the editorial (Shih and coworkers' finding): this occurred in subjects with diffuse pleural thickening but not in subjects with a normal pleura or pleural plaques alone
  • As described by the editorial: subjects with pleural thickening did not show high respiratory rates or low tidal volumes, so the findings were not likely due to restricted chest wall mechanics
• The authors' conclusion: The authors wrote that if future studies support Shih and coworkers' findings, additional x-ray categories such as diffuse pleural thickening might uncover subjects at risk for parenchymal lung disease

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Fibrosis, Interstitial Fibrosis.

Related studies

• Spiroergometric parameters at maximal exercise testing assessed functional respiratory impairment in asbestos-induced fibrosis — J. Schneider, R. Arhelger, et al. (2014)
• Asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis and impaired exercise physiology — J.F. Shih, J.S. Wilson, et al. (1994)
• Cardiorespiratory responses to incremental exercise in patients with asbestos-related pleural thickening and normal or slightly abnormal lung function — A. Miller, A. Bhuptani, et al. (1993)
• Role of exercise testing in assessing functional respiratory impairment due to asbestos exposure — J. Howard, Z. Mohsenifar, et al. (1982)
• Monocyte-derived growth factors in asbestos-induced interstitial fibrosis — D.A. Schwartz, L. Rosenstock, et al. (1989)
• Asbestosis: interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and pleural fibrosis in a cohort of asbestos insulation workers: influence of cigarette smoking — R. Lilis, I.J. Selikoff, et al. (1986)

Browse more research in Chest, or return to medical research.