Pleural mesothelioma in a non-shipyard electrician

Our plain-English summary of Pleural mesothelioma in a non-shipyard electrician, by M. Huncharek, J. Muscat (British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1990).

The study

• Authors: M. Huncharek, J. Muscat
• Journal: British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1990;47(1):68
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 000021).

Summary of the article

The authors described a case of pleural mesothelioma in an electrician who had not worked in shipyards. They noted that the risk of mesothelioma among non-shipyard electricians had received little attention. The patient was a 38 year old white man admitted to hospital in January 1974 with left sided pleuritic chest pain and effusion. He had had two earlier episodes of pleurisy with effusion, of unknown cause, in March 1972 and November 1973. He had a 45 pack-year smoking history. At thoracotomy in April 1974, nodules were removed from the diaphragm, left lung and pleura, and pathology showed papillary masses of mesothelial cells infiltrating skeletal muscle. The report states that the tumour was 'tested' with thio-tepa and BCG. He was essentially without symptoms until June 1982, when needle aspiration produced malignant cells consistent with mesothelioma, and he was given radiotherapy and adriamycin. In August 1983 the disease had progressed markedly in the left lung. He was last known to be alive in April 1984. He had worked as an electrician from 1959 until 1974. This work included buildings where acoustic insulation was sprayed on, locomotives whose boilers were being insulated, and, from 1971, airport maintenance work with old asbestos insulation and fireproofing, which coworkers often removed in his presence. The authors concluded that the case suggested a possible risk of asbestos related mesothelioma in this occupational group and that increased surveillance may be justified.

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.

In plain English

This case report described a 38-year-old white non-shipyard electrician admitted to hospital in January 1974 with left-sided chest pain and fluid around the lung, after two unexplained episodes in 1972 and 1973. Surgery in April 1974 removed nodules from the diaphragm, left lung and pleura. Pathology showed mesothelial cells infiltrating muscle; the article calls it pleural mesothelioma. He was essentially symptom-free until June 1982, when pleuritic chest pain recurred with weakness and weight loss. He received radiotherapy and adriamycin; by August 1983 the tumour had progressed in the left lung. He was last known alive in April 1984. He had a 45 pack-year smoking history. He worked as an electrician from 1959 to 1974, in buildings where acoustic insulation was sprayed on and in locomotives where boilers were being insulated. From 1971, as an airport maintenance electrician, he reported contact with old asbestos insulation and fireproofing; he said insulators and coworkers often removed asbestos insulation in his presence. The authors concluded the case suggests a possible risk of asbestos-related mesothelioma among such electricians and that more surveillance may be justified.

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)
• Who was studied: One 38-year-old white man, a non-shipyard electrician, admitted to hospital in January 1974. The place of treatment is not stated; the authors were at Boston University School of Medicine and the American Health Foundation, New York.
• Exposure: Occupational: worked as an electrician from 1959 (age 22) until diagnosis in 1974. He worked in buildings where acoustic insulation was sprayed on and did electrical work in locomotives where boilers were being insulated. From 1971 he was a maintenance electrician at an airport, where he reported contact with old asbestos insulation and fire proofing. He stated that insulators and other coworkers often removed asbestos insulation in his presence. No fiber type is named.
• Main results:
  • Before the January 1974 admission, the patient had two earlier episodes of pleurisy with effusion, in March 1972 and November 1973, of unknown cause.
  • At thoracotomy in April 1974, nodules were removed from the diaphragm, left lung and pleura. Pathology showed papillary masses of mesothelial cells infiltrating skeletal muscle.
  • The patient had a 45 pack-year smoking history.
  • He was essentially asymptomatic until June 1982, when pleuritic chest pain recurred with weakness and weight loss. Needle aspiration produced malignant cells consistent with mesothelioma, and he was given radiotherapy and adriamycin.
  • In August 1983 there was pronounced progression of the mesothelioma in the left lung; the right lung was clear.
  • The patient was last known to be alive in April 1984.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the case suggests the possibility of a risk of asbestos-related mesothelioma among non-shipyard electricians, and that increased surveillance of these workers may be justified.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors could not locate the patient or his family to find out whether he was still alive after April 1984.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma, Pleuritic Chest Pain, Pleurisy, Thoracotomy, Diaphragm, Pleura, Pathology.

Related studies

• Asbestosis among electricians — M.J. Hodgson, D.K. Parkinson, et al. (1988)
• Cancer in electrical workers: an analysis of cancer registrations in England, 1981-87 — N.T. Fear, E. Roman, et al. (1996)
• Occupational respiratory cancer and exposure to asbestos: a case-control study in a cohort of workers in the electricity and gas industry — E. Imbernon, M. Goldberg, et al. (1995)
• Effects of electrostatic charge on the pathogenicity of chrysotile asbestos — J.M. Davis, R.E. Bolton, et al. (1988)
• Mortality of UK electricity generation and transmission workers, 1973-2002 — L. Nichols, T. Sorahan (2005)
• Health in power stations — R.C. Browne (1971)

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