Journal
HUMAN PATHOLOGY
Volume 33, Issue 8, Pages 819-825Publisher
W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC
DOI: 10.1053/hupa.2002.125382
Keywords
aluminum welding; pneumoconiosis; sarcoidosis; misdiagnosis; pathology; scanning electron microscopy
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Chronic exposure to high concentrations of fumes during aluminum arc welding causes a severe pneumoconiosis characterized by diffuse pulmonary accumulation of aluminum metal and a corresponding reduction in lung function. Aluminum fume-induced pneumoconiosis is a rarely reported entity, of which the true incidence is unknown. We report the clinical, radiographic, microscopic, and microanalytic results of 2 coworkers, employed by the same aluminum shipbuilding facility, who died of complications from this disease. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis of the exogenous particle content in the lung tissue of these cases revealed the highest concentrations of aluminum particles (average of 9.26 billion aluminum particles per cm(3) of lung tissue) among the 812 similar analyses in our pneumoconiosis database. One patient had an original clinical diagnosis of sarcoidosis but no evidence of granulomatous inflammation. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available