1/6. Silicoproteinosis of the lung in a 49-year-old man. We report a rare case of silicosis, histologically corresponding to silicoproteinosis and tuberculosis, in a man working consecutively as a miner, blacksmith and founder. A microscopic study revealed deposits in alveoli, in which immunohistochemistry did not reveal surfactant (SP-A), that was present in the alveolar fluid in alveolar lipoproteinosis. ( info) |
2/6. silicotuberculosis in the elderly: report of two cases. silicotuberculosis is observed rarely in the current clinical practice. We present two patients (a 72-year-old man and a 84-year-old woman) who developed silicosis after having worked for several decades in the ceramics industry. In both, pulmonary tuberculosis complicated the clinical picture several years after retirement. The first subject presented a multicavitary lesion in the apex of the right lung, which subsequently evolved with fibrosis. The other developed bilateral tubercular bronchopneumonia and right tubercular pleurisy, that improved after prolonged antimycobacterial polychemotherapy. The two cases confirm that patients with silicosis are at an increased risk of developing tuberculosis, and show that, nowadays, silicotuberculosis may represent a geriatric problem. In the elderly, recognition of tuberculosis associated with silicosis is often difficult. Occupational history, radiology (conventional chest radiography and computed tomography) and microbiology (identification of mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum and pleural exudate) are helpful for the correct diagnosis, which, in turn, is important for prognosis and treatment, as well as in relation to medico-legal issues and occupational-related compensation claims. ( info) |
| Kieselguhr is a greyish-white powder which is made by heating lake ooze containing diatom skeletons to a temperature of about 1000 degrees C. It contains quartz, cristobalite and tridymite. Working with kieselguhr can induce silicosis. In sweden six cases of silicosis caused by exposure to kieselguhr have been reported to the Worker's Protection Board. The time of exposure was relatively short. New cases have not appeared in the last 20 years. It seems, nevertheless, important to document this unusual form of silicosis, as diatomaceous earth is readily available and the manufacturing process is simple. Demand for kieselguhr has increased and new factories are to be established which may result in new cases of silicosis. ( info) |
4/6. Sandblaster's lung with mycobacterial infection. This report describes the development of alveolar silico-lipoproteinosis complicated by mycobacterium kansasii infection in a previously healthy man who worked as a sandblaster. Alveolar silico-lipoproteinosis is a rare disease that usually is fatal within 1 year of onset of symptoms. There is a high incidence of mycobacterial infection, half being caused by atypical organisms. ( info) |
5/6. silicosis and tuberculosis. Two subjects had silicosis complicated by tuberculosis. In both patients, there was a relapse of the tuberculosis after chemotherapy was discontinued, in one case after 13 years of therapy with isoniazid and p-aminosalicylic acid. It would appear that the risk of tuberculosis in subjects with silicosis persists for life, and the suggestion is made that chemotherapy should be continued indefinitely. ( info) |
6/6. silicosis in workers dealing with tonoko: case reports and analyses of tonoko. We found three cases of pneumoconiosis among those workers who had been dealing with tonoko (a mineral powder) for more than ten years at a shop making wooden furniture in Sendai, japan. In the factory the workers were exposed to tonoko dust and had been inhaling it for a long time. Until now, this disease has not been found in employees of furniture factories; and, furthermore, tonoko has not been regarded as a harmful material. Tonoko is a very fine mineral powder used widely in japan for filling the grains of surfaces of wooden products. The three workers had scanty clinical symptoms; however, their chest x-ray films revealed disseminated nodulations throughout both pulmonary fields. One of the workers suffered from the complication of active pulmonary tuberculosis. Some of the analyses revealed that tonoko contained about 50% quartz. Accordingly, the disease is strongly suspected to be a sort of silicosis caused by inhalation of tonoko dust. ( info) |