Document Oz8bxzV5GqY8p0zM94odDEz3K

FILE NAME: German Articles - Some with English Translation (GER) DATE: 1932 June DOC#: GER051 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Abstract from Medical Journal - Pulmonary Asbestosis - English  'r -:v-. l - '-. h * ; ' g .: y- THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE ther need for study along the lines of prevention of this disease.--C. K. D. P ulmonary Asbestosis. E. Kru ger, Rostoski, and Saupe. Abstr. from, Arch. f. Gewerbepath. u. Gewerbehyg., 1931, vol. 2, pp. 558-590, in Bull. Hyg., Dec., 1931, vol. 6, pp. 861-862. After an exhaustive survey of the work on pulmonary asbestosis in other countries, the authors give an account of the work done in Germany together with a short record of cases of the dis ease which have come under their own observation in Dresden. The first record in Germany was a demonstration by Fahr to the Medical Society of Hamburg in 1914 of speci mens and photomicrographs of a case of pneumonokoniosis in an asbestos worker. Fahr mentioned the occur rence of a large number of crystals in the lung but did not describe them more closely. He stated, however, that they had been seen by Marchand and Riesel in 1906, who had speculated as to whether they were due to the inhalation of asbestos dust or were a hemoglobin derivative. In 1931 Biittner-Wobst and Trillitzsch described nine cases occurring in two asbestos factories near Dresden. Meanwhile the authors of the present paper had begun to collect cases.* They have now examined fifty-two (eighteen male and thirty-four female) workers, of whom thirty showed definite lung changes. A short analysis of the his tory of these cases is given. The longest exposure to the dust was thirty-one years in a worker aged 60. The commonest initial complaint was dyspnea. Cough occurred in 43 cases. Night sweats were recorded in 12 cases. Abdominal complaints were rare but loss of weight in the late stages was found in 15 instances with rheumatic pains, headache, and general nervous symptoms. Among th r 34 female cases abortions were recorded ., 10. Conjunctivitis was found in 16. p%. .w ryngeal symptoms were not infrequent Enlargement of the thyroid was seen on occasions, with definite Basedow symptom .... in 5; There were 4 cases of kyphosis and 4 of scoliosis. The pulmonary signs were as foUowsr M The respiratory excursion was diminished. j&L In 16 cases there were alterations in perus- . sion note on auscultation at the apex, A'j while in the rest diminished breath sounds : with fine rles, etc., were more marked the lower lobes. In some cases there was ... also evidence of pleural thickening. Sputumwas present in 28,12 showing asbestos fibers and 8 asbestosis bodies; there was no blood,: and no tubercle bacilli or elastic fibers could be found. Cardiac enlargement was noted.; in 3 instances, 1 case displayed an aorticsystolic bruit and 6 a mitral bruit, but the; were apparently compensated lesions. Th* blood pressure was never below 100 and in 8 3 cases was between 150 and 170 mm. The hemoglobin in 2 cases fell to between 60 and 70 per cent., and in 14 others was between si 70 and 80 per cent. Clubbing of the finger was noted only once. The urine was freHT quently alkaline or neutral (20 instances);traces of albumin were noted in 18 casesjwjj A strong urobilinogen reaction (red color*- tion with benzaldehyde in the cold) was 'obtained. For X-ray films the following expo- *.sure data are given: focus film distance 1.5 m., 300 m.A., 45 KY, 0.05 to O.OSsf seconds. Especial emphasis is laid onthe importance of short exposure. Three stages in the development of the radiologic picture are defined: (1)=: an increase of the normal lung striation, with the appearance of a fine network^ often difficult to determine except by. a long series of films; (2) a thicker ne work with delicate sharply defined spots of opacity (Fleckenschatten); (3) an intensification of this network to J.LH. June, 1532-1 x J u a I form a sha lung. The ; are most mi lower lobe a ture. The shadow beca stage. The affected in largement infraclavicu and there w ance such silicosis fill obsolete tu (primary c< were gener. foci and me in other f< Signs of ol Four si given shov asbestosis type of w elusion is bestosis t velop. O had had 1 none were In correla different 1 bestos fac point out small for be drawr cases wei twining ( mary of stages 1, (see X-r grams ai The I M eascr ,Proc. Sc 47 no. i Vol. U No. 6 ind in 15 leadache, mong the .corded 16 in frequent, een on 6 isis and follows mulshed n he h larked here 'O era could as noted ,n aortie but is. and in 3 m. The n 60 and between e was tances); .8 cases. I coloraild) was I expolistance to 0.08 laid on posure. tent of ed: (1) riation -***/. etwork ept by ;er netiefined n);(3) ork to J. r. H. 'u n e , 1932 ABSTRACTS form a shadowy veil covering the lung. The signs begin to appear and are most marked in the midzone and lower lobe areas of the radiologic pic ture. The contour of the heart shadow became ill defined in the second stage. The root shadows were not affected in this stage but showed en largement in the third stage. The infraclavicular areas remained clear and there was no "snowstorm" appear ance such as characterizes the typical silicosis film. In six cases signs of obsolete tuberculosis were recognized (primary complex). Tuberculous foci were generally thicker than asbestosis foci and more easily distinguished than in other forms of pneumonokoniosis. Signs of old pleurisy were frequent. Four short statistical tables are given showing the relationship of the asbestosis to the period of exposure, type of work, etc. The general con clusion is th at moderately severe as bestosis takes about five years to de velop. Of the workers examined who had had ten years' or more exposure none were free from signs of the disease. In correlating their findings with the different types of work in the two as bestos factories concerned the authors point out that the numbers are too small for very definite conclusions to be drawn. The four most advanced cases were found in the spinning and twining (Zwirnerei) sections. A sum mary of fifteen cases classified into stages 1, 2, and 3 of the disease is given (see X-ray findings). Several radio grams are reproduced.--S. R. G. T he N eed for D ust-Prevention M easures in the Coal I ndustry. Proc. So. Wales Inst. Eng., 1932, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 729-743. Attention is drawn to the work re cently done upon the pathologic condi tion of the lungs of coal miners, brought about by the inhalation of dust during their work. Undoubtedly a great development of fibrous tissue is found in the lungs. In certain cases coal dust is collected in the fibrotic tissue to such an extent as to justify the condition being called silicoanthracosis. Such lungs do not appear to succumb readily to tuberculous infection; possibly this is due to the fact that the adsorbing power of the coal dust renders inert the toxic prin ciple of tuberculin. Where the silicotic condition is paramount, as in hard heading workers, the tendency to tuberculous infection is on all fours with that found among gold miners. Coal miners' lung is not normal; the miner suffers from breathlessness and dyspnea, with a high death rate in late life from bronchitis. The causation of such trouble is dust; and every possible precaution should be taken to mini mize its presence in the air.--E. L. C. H istochemical R esearch on the I nitial L esions op E xperimental P ulmonary Silicosis. A . Policard. Compt. rend. Acad. d. sc., July 20,1931, p f. 197-199. Cellular masses containing silica particles, called plaques, appear in animals exposed to the inhalation of silica dust; rats were used. These plaques are accumulations in alveoli of cells--dust cells--arising from the pulmonary stroma, loaded with mineral particles. The size of the plaques is limited by that of the alveoli from which they cannot escape. They have a high mineral content, due to silica in an organic combination which Vol. H No. 6