Peritoneal mesothelioma presenting surgically

Our plain-English summary of Peritoneal mesothelioma presenting surgically, by P.G. Smith, P.M. Higgins, W.D. Park (The British Journal of Surgery, 1968).

The study

• Authors: P.G. Smith, P.M. Higgins, W.D. Park
• Journal: The British Journal of Surgery
• Published: 1968;55(9):681-4
• Cited by: 33 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. 001466).

Abstract

Two cases of peritoneal mesothelioma are recorded and the clinical presentations of 10 additional cases analysed. Differentiation of peritoneal mesothelioma from carcinomatosis peritonei is discussed. The close association with asbestos is illustrated and the risk discussed. A history of asbestos exposure should always raise the possibility of mesothelioma in cases of disseminated peritoneal growth.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This article reported two cases of peritoneal mesothelioma, a tumour of the lining of the abdomen, in two brothers. It also reviewed how 10 other cases, taken from another pathologist's series (Hourihane, 1964), first came to medical attention. The first brother, aged 54, had applied asbestos linings to pipes for more than 35 years. He was admitted in December 1965 with abdominal pain and a mass first thought to involve the appendix, was treated with surgery and radiotherapy, and died in 1966. The second brother, aged 50, had insulated pipes and boilers for 36 years. He was admitted in July 1966 with abdominal pain and died about a day after surgery from a blood clot in the lung. In both, the mesothelioma was recorded as secondary to asbestosis. Across the 12 cases, nearly all presented with abdominal pain or swelling, and asbestos bodies were seen in the lungs of 7 of the 9 cases where lung tissue was available. The authors concluded that a history of asbestos exposure should always raise the possibility of mesothelioma in cases of widespread tumour growth in the abdomen.

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 reports of two patients, plus a review of the clinical presentations of 10 additional previously studied cases
• Who was studied: Two brothers (men aged 54 and 50) seen at King George Hospital, Ilford, and the London Hospital in 1965 to 1966, plus 10 cases from Hourihane's series classified as certain peritoneal mesothelioma, 12 cases in all
• Exposure: Asbestos in general; no fiber type is named. Four cases (Cases 1, 2, 10 and 11) were pipe and boiler laggers for many years, two (Cases 4 and 7) worked at an asbestos factory, one probably had indirect exposure through a husband, and one lived near an asbestos factory
• Main results:
  • Case 1: a biopsy showed a fibromatous type of mesothelioma. The cause of death was given as peritoneal mesothelioma secondary to asbestosis.
  • Case 2 died about 24 hours after laparotomy. Autopsy gave the cause of death as pulmonary embolism secondary to calf-vein thrombosis.
  • Case 2: the lung tissue showed diffuse fibrosis with numerous asbestos bodies, and the visceral pleura showed hyaline plaques.
  • Of the 12 cases, nearly all presented with either abdominal pain or abdominal swelling.
  • Post-mortem lung tissue was available in 9 of the 12 cases; asbestos bodies were seen in 7 of these 9.
  • Eight of the cases had pleural plaques; asbestos bodies were present in the lung sections of 6 of these 8.
  • Case 9 was described as probably an example of indirect exposure, because the patient's husband was employed at an asbestos factory.
  • Case 6 lived within 1 mile of a large asbestos factory and may be an example of environmental exposure.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that a history of asbestos exposure should always raise the possibility of mesothelioma in cases of disseminated peritoneal growth.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Diffuse Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma Presenting with Psammomatous Calcification on a Cervical Smear — A. Tan, P. Cohen, et al. (2015)
• Peritoneal mesothelioma presenting as an adnexal mass — R.A. Komorowski, D.H. Bobert (1975)
• Peritoneal mesothelioma presenting as umbilical tumor — W.S. Kwee, R.W. Veldhuizen, et al. (1982)
• Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma presenting with persistent high fever — L.Y. Chen, L.X. Huang, et al. (2011)
• Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma Presenting with Polymyalgia Rheumatica-like Syndrome — Y. Ide, T. Yuki, et al. (2020)
• Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma presenting with respiratory symptoms — M. Daskalogiannaki, P. Prassopoulos, et al. (2000)

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