Document NE5qan8mZnBep61kg1wVODLOE

5 51 Pulmonary Functiir tr. Sacaai Am. Rev. P.esp. Gis. 5c! iseas'-. Fierce et at. Sever, previously veil :r.er. work!.-.; tit a fiberbcard piar.t developed signs and symptoms of ac"'_ bagasse worker's lur.g curing a ten-week period. Two of these patients had open lung bioasieg to confirm the diagnosis. Pulmonary functions were measured from 2. 5 weeks to 26 months after the onset of symptoms. All patients had a restrictive luna defect due to a reduced in spiratory capacity: partial airway obstruction was not a feature of the Illness. All patients had a severe reduction in the transfer coefficient of the lur.e for carbon monoxide at the outset. this was primarily due to a reduction in membrane diffusing capacity, whereas the volume of blood in the pulmonary capillaries was more nearly normal. Although pulmonary functions returned toward normal, the total lung capacity. ir.SDiratory capacity, vital capacity, forced expiratory volume, transfer coefficient of tie lur.g for CO. ar.d membrane diffusing capacity remained significantly abnormal more than one year after the onset. Three patients were treated with adrenocorticosterolds and 4 were not. There was no significant difference betwe*- the treated and the untreated patients in the rate of objective improvement or in the extent of residual impairment of pulmonary functions. These data suggest that steroids do not hasten the resolution of a granulomatous infiltrate nor do they make resolution more complete. The.-r are 28 references. -- Authors' summary .552 Metal and Mineral Concentrations tr. Lungs of Bituminous Coal Miners. J. V. Crable, et a!. Am. Ind. Hyg. Assn. J. 29^ 1 06-11 0 (March-Aprll, 19681. Lung and pulmonary lymph node samples from 26 West Virginia bituminous coal miners haie - analyzed for total dust, coal, and free silica. In addition, beryllium, cobalt, manganese, r.i:- titanium, and vanadium were determined by the quantitative spectrographic methods; lead wa; determined by the L'SPHS dithlzone method: and copper, iron, magnesium, and zinc were de:t." mined by atomic absorption spectrophotometric methods. The summarized results of the mi." analyses from this study and the authors' previous study are presented. The concentration and mean values for eleven elemental constituents are compared with normal values reported Tipton and Shafer and Cholak. There are 9 references. -- Authors' summa.-v 553 Tissue Response to Intraperitoneal Asbestos With Preliminary Report of Acute Toxicitv o: Treated Asbestos in Mice. J. Jagatic, et al. Environ. Research^., 217-230 (Nov., 1 9671 Intraperitoneal asbestos not only produced fibrosis, but a special and peculiar type of fibref which was proliferative, granulomatous and invasive, and histologically similar to mesothf" although morphologic evidence of actual malignancy was not obtained. Further, asbestos exposed to high temperature produced a high degree of toxicity in experimental animals: t":> resulted In a 60o mortality rate. -- Authors a-* Editor's Note: Although the authors of this 19-page article insist that the fibrous ir.flarrr " tissue resulting from intraperitoneally injected asbestos is histologically similar to mesoi and that it is "invasive", they gave no evidence in support of these opinions. The 22 iHus.^* that are included in this report, support neither the claim of similarity to mesothelioma of "invasiveness" of the inflammatory tissue. * 554 Asbestos--A Hazard to the Community. C. Gold and J. Cuthbert. Public Health(London) 80, 261-270 (Sept., 1966). During a recent study of pulmonary fibrosis in a Southeast Glasgow clinic. 21 proved 3 possible cases of lung pathology associated with exposure to asbestos have come '? patient with suspected asbestosis should have, ir. addition to x-rays, an examination Hi bodies ir. the sputum, lur.g function tests, ar.d open lur.g biopsy, since asbestosis *** ' in patients with normal or borderline x-rays by the lur.g function test ar.d most re-ta--- biopsy. It is also Important to take a complete occupational history ir. cases of fibrosis, since asbestos is or pleural tumors may occur many vears after a 8^or/.e^''.A the asbestos dust. Also,, ppersons ir. occupations usual. associated .viili hea.tr. be endangered by working ir. close proximitv with people who use asbestos, especia. spaces. Case histories are giver, and a table is presented shewing the type o: as'.''-*5^' . tior., length of exposure, age, and period elapsed since exposure of the 24 oatier.s..... _ Since the use of asbestos has become more wldesoread vears , it is reco.