Pulmonary histiocytosis X in a patient with epithelioid mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Pulmonary histiocytosis X in a patient with epithelioid mesothelioma, by J. Morrison, S. Stamenkovic, W.S. Walker, et al (Histopathology, 2006).

The study

• Authors: J. Morrison, S. Stamenkovic, W.S. Walker, W.A. Wallace
• Journal: Histopathology
• Published: 2006;49(3):320-1
• Type of article: Case report, Letter
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This letter to the journal was a case report from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK. The patient was a 49-year-old male smoker with a significant history of asbestos exposure who was referred with a persistent cough. The article did not describe the type of asbestos or how he was exposed. A biopsy of the parietal pleura (the lining of the chest wall) showed epithelioid mesothelioma. Staging tests found no metastasis, and he had a pleuropneumonectomy. Examination of the removed tissue confirmed epithelioid mesothelioma (pT2 N1 Mx). It also showed focal emphysema, especially in the upper lobe, and scarred nodules containing Langerhans cells, consistent with pulmonary histiocytosis X, a rare lung disease. The authors believed this was the first report of the two conditions together. They considered asbestos the likely cause of the mesothelioma and smoking the likely cause of the emphysema and histiocytosis X. They found no evidence in the literature that asbestos played a role in histiocytosis X, and concluded that the combination was probably an incidental association.

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 (letter to the journal)
• Who was studied: one patient, a 49-year-old male smoker referred with a persistent cough, seen at the Departments of Thoracic Surgery and Pathology, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK; dates not given
• Exposure: a significant history of asbestos exposure (fiber type, job and dose not described), and smoking
• Main results:
  • A thoracoscopic biopsy of the parietal pleura showed epithelioid mesothelioma.
  • Staging investigations (bronchoscopy and mediastinoscopy) showed no metastasis, and the patient underwent pleuropneumonectomy.
  • Examination of the resection specimen confirmed epithelioid mesothelioma, staged pT2 N1 Mx.
  • The upper lobe of the lung showed focal emphysema.
  • The lung tissue contained stellate nodular scars with Langerhans cells that stained for S100 and CD1a, consistent with pulmonary histiocytosis X (pulmonary eosinophilic granuloma).
  • The authors believed this was the first report of a patient with coexisting pulmonary histiocytosis X and mesothelioma.
  • The authors considered asbestos exposure the likely cause of the mesothelioma, and smoking the likely cause of the emphysema and pulmonary histiocytosis X.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors found no evidence in the literature that asbestos played a role in pulmonary histiocytosis X. They concluded that its occurrence with mesothelioma in this patient was probably an incidental association.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Epithelioid, Mesothelioma.

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