Pulmonary Asbestosis

Our plain-English summary of Pulmonary Asbestosis, by J. Donnelly (American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health, 1933).

The study

• Author: J. Donnelly
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health
• Published: 1933;23(12):1275-81
• Cited by: 3 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. 003044).

In plain English

This 1933 paper combined a review of earlier published reports on pulmonary asbestosis with the author's own case series from a chest clinic at Mecklenburg Sanatorium in Huntersville, North Carolina. Over 3 or 4 years the author collected 15 asbestos workers referred for respiratory symptoms. All but one had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, and their main complaint was dyspnea (shortness of breath). Of the X-ray films taken, only 3 failed to show definite evidence of pulmonary asbestosis. The shortest time from exposure to symptoms and signs was 18 months. The author could not find asbestosis bodies in the sputum and found no proof that the condition reactivated old tuberculosis. Three case histories were described: white men aged 64, 73 and 31 who had worked in asbestos card rooms for 18 months, 8 years and about 4 years. All three were described as living but totally disabled. The author noted that the series was comparatively small. The author concluded that the condition seemed far more frequent among asbestos workers than usually supposed, and that asbestos dust exposure appeared to be the cause of their disability.

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 series of clinic patients with three detailed case reports, together with a narrative review of earlier published reports and animal experiments by other researchers
• Who was studied: 15 asbestos workers referred to the author's chest clinic (Mecklenburg Sanatorium, Huntersville, N.C.) for respiratory symptoms over the 3 or 4 years before 1933. Three were described in detail: white men aged 64, 73 and 31.
• Exposure: Inhalation of asbestos dust in asbestos mills and plants. The three described cases worked in card rooms: 18 months with no protective devices (Case I), 8 years (Case II), and about 4 years with some protective devices (Case III). No fiber type was named and no dust levels were measured.
• Main results:
  • All but one of the 15 referred asbestos workers had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.
  • Dyspnea was the principal and most distressing symptom in the series.
  • Of the X-ray films taken of these workers, only 3 failed to show definite evidence of pulmonary asbestosis. The total number of films taken is not stated.
  • In the series, the shortest time from exposure to the development of symptoms and physical signs was 18 months.
  • The author could not demonstrate asbestosis bodies in the sputum of these patients.
  • In this series the author found no proof that the condition caused a flare-up of old tuberculosis.
  • The three described patients were all still living but were described as totally disabled.
  • In Case III (age 31), X-ray films taken 15 months after the first films showed increased fine fibrosis, even though the patient gained 38 pounds during about 13 months in the sanatorium.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that pulmonary asbestosis seemed far more frequent among asbestos workers than usually supposed. They also considered it justifiable to assume that asbestos dust exposure caused these patients' total and permanent disability.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author described the series as comparatively small.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Inhibition of lung injury, inflammation, and interstitial pulmonary fibrosis by polyethylene glycol-conjugated catalase in a rapid inhalation model of asbestosis — B.T. Mossman, J.P. Marsh, et al. (1990)
• Pulmonary endpoints (lung carcinomas and asbestosis) following inhalation exposure to asbestos — B.T. Mossman, M. Lippmann, et al. (2011)
• Pulmonary Asbestosis — W.E. Cooke (1927)
• Pulmonary asbestosis: CT study of subpleural curvilinear shadow. Work in progress — H. Yoshimura, M. Hatakeyama, et al. (1986)
• Experimental asbestosis. The development of lung cancer in rats with pulmonary deposits of chrysotile asbestos dust — P. Gross, R.T. DeTreville, et al. (1967)
• Chrysotile-induced asbestosis: changes in the free cell population, pulmonary surfactant and whole lung tissue of rats — T.D. Tetley, P.M. Hext, et al. (1976)

Browse return to medical research.