Document Ex2Xd7EYn1xb7X96b0vBzrLm0

bone marrow had been adequately excluded. The findings correlate with the histopathological changes which are reported to occur in the lungs of silicotic patients; they indicate a high degree of stimulation of the reticulo-endothelial system. If these changes are considered to gether with the industrial history and clinical and laboratory data, they may provide a clue to ' the diagnosis of silicosis and help in the differential diagnosis from other diffuse pulmonary lesions. -- Auth. abst, 71 Mesothelioma of Pleura and Peritoneum Following Exposure to Asbestos in the London Area. Muriel L>. Newhouse and Hilda Thompson. Brit. J. hid. Med, zi, 261-269 (Oct. 19^5). A series of 83 patients from the London Hospital with a diagnosis of mesothelioma confirmed by necropsy or biopsy has been studied for possible exposure to asbestos. The series consisted of 41 men and 42 women,* 27 of the patients had peritoneal and 56 pleural tumors. The earliest death recorded was in 1917, but only ten of the series died before 1950 and 40 (48%) between 1960 and 1964. In 76 of the series full occupational and residential histories were obtained. Forty (52.6%) gave a history of occupational or domestic (living in Ihe same houpe as an asbestos worker) exposure to asbestos compared with nine (11.8%) out of 76 patients from'the same hospi tal suffering from other diseases (P< 0.001). None of the 17 suspected cases of mesothelioma, rejected on pathological grounds, was found to have had any exposure to asbestos. There was also evidence that neighborhood exposures may be important. Among those with no evidence of occupational or domestic exposures, 30.6% of the mesothelioma patients and 7. 6% of the in patients with other diseases lived within half a mile of an asbestos factory (P< 0.01). Out of the 31 patients with occupational exposures only ten were in jobs scheduled under the Asbestos Regulations of 1931. The interval between the first exposure and the development of the terminal Illness of mesothelioma ranged between 16 and 55 years. In 47 patients in the mesothelioma series, lung tissue or sputum was available for examination. In 30 (62.5%) either asbestosis or asbestos bodies were present. -- Auth. abst. 72 Diffuse Mesothelioma of the Pleura and Asbestos. P. C. Elmes, W. T. E. McCaughey, and O.L. Wade. Brit. Med. J. U 350 (Feb. 6, 1965). Mesothelioma of the pleura is an uncommon tumor and, in recent years, studies have indicated a relationship of this tumor to exposure to asbestos. The occupational histories of 42 patients with diagnosed mesothelioma were contrasted to 42 control patients with regard to their exposure to asbestos. Thirty-two of the 42 patients with diagnosed mesothelioma had a history of exposure to asbestos which was considered to be heavy exposure in eight and a light exposure in 24. In the 42 control patients there was a history of exposure in only nine, and in two of these it was con sidered heavy. The difference between these two groups was highly significant. In another study it was shown that the finding of asbestos bodies in lung tissue was significantly related to the history of industrial exposure to asbestos. 'A'hen the lungs of 24 patients with diagnosed meso thelioma were examined for the presence of asbestos bodies, 21 of the 24 patients showed this finding. In contrast, asbestos bodies were found in only six of the 24 controls, a highly significar! difference. The occupational histories of these patients revealed that the interval between the first exposure to asbestos and the diagnoses of mesothelioma was often long and in some cases exceeded 49 years. Exposure to asbestos, even though many years before and transient, is an important factor in the development of mesothelioma of the pleura. -- J. Occ. Med. Absts. 73 Relation Between Exposure to Asbestos and Mesothelioma. 1. J. Selikoff, J. Churg, and E. C. Hammond. New longl. J. Med. 272, 560 (March 18, 1965). Ten deaths due to mesothelioma were found in a study of 307 consecutive deaths among asbestosinsulation workers in New York and New Jersey. There were four pleural mesotheliomas (1. 3%' and six peritoneal mesotheliomas (1.9%). This :s probably ar. underestimate of the true incidence since, of the remaining 297 deaths, only 110 cases were autopsied. These figures can be con trasted to a prospective study of the American Cancer 5ociety in which only three deaths due to mesothelioma were noted ir. 31,632 deaths of patients between 30 and o? years of age. In an autopsy series of 2,500 deaths, asbestosis was found in 26. There were four mesotheliomas of the pleura, three mesotheliomas of the peritoneum, and seven bronchogenic carcinomas recorded in the patients with asbestosis. No mesotheliomas were found in the absence of asbestosis. Case* of diagnosed mesothelioma from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology were review ed and in all cases where lung tissue was available It was examined for asbestos fibers. Asbesto* fibers were found in five of the 19 pleural mesotheliomas and in 17 of the 26 peritoneal mesotheh- is. J