Seminars in Roentgenology

Our medical research library holds 11 studies published in Seminars in Roentgenology (1977–2013). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 2 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it. For 6 studies PubMed has no abstract for, we give the abstract printed in the article or, where there is none, a summary we wrote from it, each labeled as such.

About the journal

• Publisher: W.B. Saunders
• Published: 1966 to the present, United States
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0037-198X (print), 1558-4658 (electronic)
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• Malignant pleural mesothelioma: role of CT, MRI, and PET/CT in staging evaluation and treatment considerations. M.T. Truong, C. Viswanathan, M.B. Godoy, et al. 2013;48(4):323-34. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This narrative review, by radiologists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, discussed imaging, staging and treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The authors reported that MPM is associated with occupational asbestos exposure in 40%-80% of patients, has an annual United States incidence of 3000 cases, and has a median survival of 9-17 months after diagnosis. They summarized published evidence on chest radiography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT for T, N and M staging under the International Mesothelioma Interest Group system. Cited findings included: MRI was more accurate than CT for invasion of the endothoracic fascia or a single chest wall focus (69% vs 46%) and of the diaphragm (82% vs 55%). PET/CT detected extrathoracic metastases in about 25% of patients being evaluated for surgery. PET/CT upstaged 70% of patients in one study. The review also covered chemotherapy, including cisplatin with pemetrexed (median survival 12.1 vs 9.3 months), extrapleural pneumonectomy versus pleurectomy/decortication, radiation therapy, targeted agents, response assessment with modified RECIST and PET, the biomarkers mesothelin-related peptide, megakaryocyte potentiation factor and osteopontin, and complications of therapy. The authors concluded that CT is the primary imaging modality for staging. MRI complements CT for chest wall invasion or transdiaphragmatic extension. PET/CT is useful for nodal and distant metastases but limited for the primary tumor. They added that the role of PET in predicting treatment response and prognosis shows promise and requires further studies.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

1990s

• Asbestos exposures and thoracic neoplasms. R.N. Jones. 1992;27(2):94-101. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This narrative review, written for clinicians and radiologists, described the relationships between asbestos exposure and two thoracic cancers, lung cancer and diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma, to help evaluate the risks from past exposures. For lung cancer, the author suggested a minimum latency of 10 years for the heaviest past exposures and 15 to 20 years for more typical later exposures. He noted that dose-response slopes varied with industrial process and fiber type. In the insulators' cohort, asbestos exposure was associated with about a 5-fold elevation of incidence, cigarette smoking with an 11-fold elevation, and both together with a 53-fold elevation. In other cohorts, exposure-related elevations usually lay between two-fold and three-fold. The author presented eight lines of evidence for the proposition that asbestosis, rather than asbestos itself, causes the exposure-related excess of lung cancer. He outlined three elements of a clinical-radiographic diagnosis of asbestosis: exposure, response and absence of confounders. For mesothelioma, he considered the data consistent with a minimum latency of 20 years. He noted that brief, domestic and neighborhood exposures to amphiboles increased risk, and that the risk from chrysotile was much lower. He concluded that a mesothelioma in a patient with past occupational asbestos exposure, even of only a few months and meeting the latency requirement, is probably the result of the exposure. He added that exclusive chrysotile exposure should not be assumed without overwhelming proof.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

• Asbestos inhalation and nonmalignant abnormalities of the chest. P.E. Epstein. 1992;27(2):85-93. Review PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos-related chest diseases: plain radiographic findings. W.T. Miller, W.B. Gefter, W.T. Miller. 1992;27(2):102-20. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In summary, there are a wide range of pulmonary manifestations seen in asbestos-exposed individuals from pleural and parenchymal fibrosis to pleural and parenchymal malignancy. The chest roentgenogram has assumed an important role in the detection and surveillance of asbestos-related pleural and parenchymal changes.

• Medico-legal issues in occupational lung disease litigation. N.A. Schachtman, C.J. Rhodes. 1992;27(2):140-3. Review PubMed · Publisher

• Recent advances in the early diagnosis of asbestosis. R. Bégin, G. Ostiguy, R. Filion, et al. 1992;27(2):121-39. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This review covered recent progress in three areas: understanding early lung injury after asbestos dust inhalation, recognizing these early events in humans, and recognizing early asbestosis clinically. The authors drew on rat studies by Brody and colleagues, their own sheep model, and studies of asbestos workers, including long-term miners and millers in Quebec's Eastern Townships. The described mechanisms began with fibers deposited at alveolar duct bifurcations and damaging epithelial cells. Macrophages then accumulated, and long fibers were incompletely phagocytosed. Activated macrophages released fibronectin, PDGF, IGF-1, oxygen radicals and plasminogen activator, which recruited fibroblasts and led to collagen deposition. Among workers without radiographic asbestosis, 50% showed enhanced gallium-67 lung uptake. In follow-up, 12 of 16 workers with normal radiographs and positive gallium scans (75%) progressed to clinical asbestosis. Lung lavage showed a subclinical alveolitis and gave information on fibrosing activity. The pulmonary pressure-volume curve could detect changes before the chest radiograph. The authors cited a study in which HRCT was abnormal in 57 of 169 exposed workers with normal radiographs. They listed five proposed HRCT criteria suggestive of asbestosis and noted that interpretation is controversial. In their experience, 10% to 20% of long-term exposed workers had HRCT findings suggestive of early asbestosis with a normal chest radiograph. They concluded that the diffuse character of such abnormalities would support interpreting them as early asbestosis.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

• Various aspects of asbestos exposure. W.T. Miller. 1992;27(2):81. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• High-resolution computed tomography of asbestos-related diseases. D.R. Aberle. 1991;26(2):118-31. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  There is growing evidence that HRCT can detect both interstitial and pleural disease in advance of conventional clinical or radiographic studies. Limited HRCT scans are roughly competitive in time and cost with 4-view radiographic examinations. The use of limited HRCT for large-scale screening of asbestos-exposed individuals is controversial. Hopefully this will be resolved as we gain greater understanding of the specificity of HRCT and establish guidelines for standardizing technique and interpretation. At present, limited HRCT scans can supplement the chest radiographic evaluation of subjects in whom there is equivocal parenchymal or pleural disease, unexplained abnormalities on pulmonary function tests, or significant coexisting pleural disease that precludes evaluation of the underlying parenchyma. Interstitial abnormalities on HRCT may be reasonably ascribed to asbestos exposure when there is clear historical documentation of significant, remote dust exposure or concomitant evidence of typical bilateral asbestos-related pleural disease. A subpleural distribution of interstitial abnormality in nondependent lung is important to establish the diagnosis of interstitial fibrosis. Although both unilateral pleural and parenchymal fibroses have been reported, lesions should generally be present bilaterally. In individuals with combined asbestos-cigarette smoke exposure in whom symptoms or functional abnormalities are present, HRCT may play a central role in distinguishing emphysematous lung destruction from the peripheral interstitial changes of asbestosis. Finally, in individuals with significant pleural or parenchymal fibrosis, focal lung masses may not be visible on chest radiographs. In these individuals, CT protocols that sample all regions of the thorax are appropriate.

1970s

• Mesotheliomas and secondary tumors of the pleura. K. Ellis, M. Wolff. 1977;12(4):303-11. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This review, by a radiologist and a surgical pathologist at Columbia University, set out current concepts about primary pleural tumors (the mesotheliomas) and the more common secondary tumors of the pleura. It was illustrated with chest roentgenograms and histologic images from individual patients.

  Localized fibrous mesotheliomas were described as rare, slow-growing and usually pedunculated. More than 75% arose from the visceral pleura. They were often found on routine chest films in adults mainly aged 45-65. No special association with asbestos exposure had been evident. Extrathoracic features such as osteoarthropathy and hypoglycemia were described. Surgical excision was curative in most patients, with recurrence in about 20%.

  Diffuse mesotheliomas were described as of increasing interest because of their relationship to asbestos exposure. They had three radiologic presentations and occurred in men about five times as often as in women, nearly all over 40. A definite history of asbestos exposure was obtained in 10%-40% or more of patients. The authors discussed difficulties in telling the tumor apart from reactive mesothelium, fibrous pleural scar and metastatic carcinoma, and the role of histochemical stains and electron microscopy. Treatment was generally unsatisfactory, and most patients died within a year of diagnosis.

  Metastatic neoplasm was described as the most common pleural neoplasm, and adenocarcinoma as the most common metastatic tumor producing pleural effusion. The authors stated that primary pleural neoplasms must be considered in all cases of persistent unexplained pleural effusion and of peripheral lung masses.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

• Pleural plaques: a signpost of asbestos dust inhalation. E.N. Sargent, G. Jacobson, J.S. Gordonson. 1977;12(4):287-97. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This review by three radiologists at the LAC-USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, described pleural plaques as a marker of asbestos dust inhalation. It reported no new study of patients. The authors noted that asbestos was used in more than 3000 commercial items and that disease often appeared 20 years or more after exposure began. They summarized published evidence linking plaques to occupational and nonoccupational exposure and described a proposed theory of how inhaled fibres reach the parietal pleura. They also described the gross and microscopic pathology of plaques. Most of the article covered radiographic appearances. Plaques were usually 1-5 mm thick, most often lay next to the 5th to 8th ribs, and spared the apices and costophrenic angles. Less than 25% of patients with plaques had interstitial lung disease. Calcification was found histologically in about 87% of plaques but was relatively uncommon on radiographs. The authors recommended oblique views and fluoroscopy, explained how to tell plaques from normal muscle and fat shadows, and reviewed other causes of pleural thickening and calcification. They cited a study in which bronchial carcinoma was 2½ times more frequent in men with plaques. They concluded that bilateral plaques should be considered caused by asbestos until proven otherwise, that a lifetime occupational history should be taken, and that such patients should have lifetime surveillance.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

• The extrapleural space. B. Felson. 1977;12(4):327-33. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This review by a radiologist described the extrapleural space, a potential plane in the loose connective tissue of the endothoracic fascia between the parietal pleura and the thoracic cage, and how lesions there appear on chest radiographs. The article was originally published in the book Chest Roentgenology (1973) and was illustrated with radiographs of individual cases. The author described what he called the extrapleural sign: a very sharp convex outline facing the lung with tapering upper and lower margins. It was often accompanied by rib involvement and by movement with the ribs rather than the lung on breathing. He compared this appearance with encapsulated and interlobar pleural fluid, pulmonary tumors, localized pleural tumors and malignant mesothelioma. He noted that mesothelioma usually shows a smaller transverse diameter, pleural thickening elsewhere and often effusion, though it may rarely arise entirely extrapleurally. He recommended fluoroscopy with spot films to bring lesions into profile, and Bucky films to show rib changes. By far the commonest cause of the sign was metastatic tumor in a rib. Other causes included myeloma, lymphoma, primary neoplasms, lipoma, infections, hematoma, oil plombage for tuberculosis, operations, and congenital lobar agenesis. He also described lesions spreading between the lung, pleura and chest wall, notably in actinomycosis.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

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