Shrinking pleuritis with atelectasis

Our plain-English summary of Shrinking pleuritis with atelectasis, by L. Dernevik (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1989).

The study

• Author: L. Dernevik
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1989;16(4):451-4
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 1 article, 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. 000071).

In plain English

This article was a commentary by a surgeon at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, on shrinking pleuritis with atelectasis (SPA). SPA is a non-cancerous asbestos-related lesion in which thickened, contracted pleura compresses part of the lung into a ball. The commentary reported no new study. It drew on the author's group's clinical experience and on published work. The author noted that most SPA patients had small or moderate asbestos exposure, that nearly all of the group's patients were or had been smokers, and that the group had seen two women with the lesion. The author wrote that half of patients had cough or shortness of breath, though lung volumes were generally not severely reduced. Surgery to peel off the constricting tissue (decortication) may be warranted in severe cases, and symptoms were relieved afterward. The author found SPA hard to tell from tumors on X-rays. One patient had lung cancer alongside SPA. The author concluded that X-ray techniques can give a very probable, but seldom certain, diagnosis.

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: Commentary (no new study data), drawing on the author's group's clinical experience with SPA and on published literature
• Who was studied: No defined study population. The author described SPA patients seen by the author's group at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, mostly men but including two women.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general. The author stated most SPA patients had small or moderate exposure two or three decades before the lesion was found. One woman had insulated the family yacht stove with asbestos plates; the other had no known exposure.
• Main results:
  • Nearly all of the author's group's SPA patients were or had been smokers.
  • The author's group found the SPA lesion most often lay opposite a pleural plaque.
  • According to the author, one-half of all SPA patients have cough or dyspnea (shortness of breath), and some have hemoptysis (coughing blood).
  • Lung volumes on spirometry were in general not severely reduced, even in patients with shortness of breath.
  • The author stated surgery (decortication) may be warranted in severe cases, and permanent relief of symptoms is observed after the operation.
  • The author's group found it quite difficult to separate SPA from tumors using radiological techniques.
  • One patient had a carcinoma in the right lower lobe along with SPA in the middle and upper lobes. After lobectomy and decortication, almost all lost lung function was restored.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that careful use of different radiological techniques can give a very probable diagnosis of SPA, but one can seldom be 100% sure, so patients should be followed at regular intervals.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated that the suggested role of immune abnormalities in SPA is unconfirmed.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Exogenous particles in lymph nodes in patients with shrinking pleuritis with atelectasis — L. Dernevik (1985)
• Round atelectasis and Metsovo lung — S.A. Papiris, M.A. Maniati, et al. (1993)
• Rounded atelectasis. Clinical experience with 74 patients — G. Hillerdal (1989)
• Rounded atelectasis and its association with asbestos-induced pleural disease — R.A. Mintzer, R.M. Gore, et al. (1981)
• The association of asbestos-induced pleural disease and rounded atelectasis — R.A. Mintzer, D.W. Cugell (1982)
• Rounded atelectasis of the lung — G.T. Stathopoulos, M.T. Karamessini, et al. (2005)

Browse more research in American Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.