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Query: UMLS:C0037116 (silicosis)
 1,822 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Histological examination on lung tissue obtained from 10 symptomatic welders was performed by two certified pathologists without the knowledge of the patients' clinical condition. In all cases, there was some degree of interstitial fibrosis; in five the degree of fibrosis was considered to be moderate to pronounced. The tissue was also analysed by energy dispersive x ray analysis and elemental contents were compared with age matched controls. There was a large amount of iron in the lungs of welders but the silicon content did not differ from the control subjects. No specific foreign element was detected. It is concluded that (1) interstitial pulmonary fibrosis is seen in some welders and (2) the cause of fibrosis does not appear to be coexisting silicosis.
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PMID:Welders' pneumoconiosis: tissue elemental microanalysis by energy dispersive x ray analysis. 334 82

An industrial hygiene and medical survey was conducted in an iron foundry to study the occurrence of silicosis. Breathing zone exposures to respirable crystalline silica had been very high in 1977 [1 045 micrograms/m3 (geometric mean) for coremakers and 198 micrograms/m3 for fettlers]; exposures in 1980 and 1982 were substantially lower. A radiographic evaluation of 188 workers revealed silicosis in 18 (9.6%). Eight had category 1 profusion of small rounded pulmonary lesions (by the 1980 classification of the International Labour Office); two had category 2; and eight had category 3. Two had progressive massive fibrosis. Four workers without silicosis in 1977 had developed lesions by 1980. The prevalence increased from 1.5% among workers employed less than 20 years to 53% among longer term workers. No association was found between the prevalence of silicosis and cigarette smoking. Chronic cough was more common in workers with heavy current dust exposure than in those with light exposure, more common in smokers than in nonsmokers, and more common in silicotics than in nonsilicotics. A multiplicative interaction existed between dust exposure and smoking in the etiology of cough. Silicosis continues to exist in American foundries. Cigarette smoking does not contribute to the causation of silicosis, but it aggravates the attendant respiratory symptoms.
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PMID:Silicosis in a grey iron foundry. The persistence of an ancient disease. 348 18

To assess the feasibility of using the pathology automation system (PATHAUT) for research, the quality of the data was explored by examining who comes to autopsy, the quality of the autopsy material, interobserver variability, and repeatability of diagnoses. The data indicated that autopsy rates in the gold mining industry, especially for whites, are high and that even among blacks, gold miners are represented in proportions exceeding the relative size of the working population. Because of the perception of the autopsy service as a means of obtaining compensation, miners with occupational diseases fully compensated in life are probably underrepresented. The autopsy material submitted for full autopsy is generally better preserved than cardiorespiratory organs that are sent for examination. The gold mining industry has a high proportion of full autopsies as does the Iron and Steel Corporation of South Africa. Full autopsies are more commonly performed on older deceased miners. This was true for both blacks and whites. The allocation of material to pathologists for full autopsies and examinations of the cardiorespiratory organs were clearly not random, and this may affect comparisons among pathologists. Active tuberculosis, silicosis, and emphysema prevalences appeared fairly comparable across pathologists; however, there was wide variability in the prevalence of bronchiolitis as determined by the pathologists. Agreement between the diagnoses on PATHAUT and reclassifications by single pathologists was very good for the severity of emphysema and the histological type of bronchogenic carcinoma.
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PMID:Pathological findings in mine workers: II. Quality of the PATHAUT data. 361 2

This is a study of cancer mortality, cancer incidence, and incidence of lung tuberculosis among cases of silicosis reported to the National Swedish Pneumoconiosis Register during 1959-1977. Two occupational categories were extracted--"mining, tunneling, and quarrying" (n = 284) and "iron and steel foundries" (n = 428), respectively. Control groups were drawn from a national register of persons undergoing periodic health examinations with regard to silicosis risk. The controls were matched for occupation, age, and time of first exposure. The follow-up was performed through record-linkage operations to computerized information in Swedish Death Statistics, Swedish Cancer Register, and the Swedish Tuberculosis Index. End of follow-up was set at December 31, 1980. In cases drawn from mining, quarrying, and tunneling workers seven deaths in lung cancer were observed and two among the controls. Among iron and steel foundry workers the corresponding numbers were 10 and 6. The values for expected numbers, based on general population statistics, were 1.3 and 2.6, respectively, for these two occupational groups. When cancer incidence statistics were used, the case/control ratio for lung cancer was 2.1 for "mining, quarrying, and tunneling" and 0.6 for "iron and steel foundries." There were 29 cases of lung tuberculosis registered among the silicosis cases during the follow-up period. Only one tuberculosis case was observed among the controls. The results demonstrate that persons with silicosis contracted in the mining, quarrying, and tunneling occupations are subject to an increased risk of lung cancer. The risk is observed when both the general population and a closely matched control population from the same occupations are used for values of reference. The results also demonstrate the high risk of persons with silicosis to contract lung tuberculosis.
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PMID:Silicosis and risk of lung cancer or lung tuberculosis: a cohort study. 375 78

From 1931 to 1977 a total of 144 cases of silicosis have been diagnosed in the iron-ore mine in Kiruna, Sweden. Drilling, loading and tapping caused all cases of silicosis. In 24% of the cases, the disease had progressed after the diagnosis. The progression of the disease after diagnosis showed no significant correlation to the length of the exposure but a dose-response relationship was present between the cumulative quartz exposure and the stage of silicosis 20 years after the diagnosis. Signs of tuberculous infection were found in 17%. There was a significant relationship between tuberculosis and progression of the silicosis. Mortality was increased in association with silicosis stage II-III and in stages with concomitant tuberculosis infection. Half of the cases of silicosis had been diagnosed before 1942, and after 1960 no more cases in stages II or III were diagnosed. The mean concentration of respiratory quartz was approximately 0.8 mg/m3 in the 1950s and early 1960s and decreased progressively to below 0.05 mg/m3 in the late 1970s. The cumulative incidence rate, with respect to the decade in which the exposure began, was 0.021% in 1951-1960. With an unaltered dose-response, less than one case of silicosis per 500 workers may be expected among those who start working underground in the 1980s. Evidently silicosis is no longer a major health risk among those who start working underground in this mine today, and it is recommended that the 40-year-old regulations for the medical prevention of silicosis be revised.
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PMID:Silicosis in the iron-ore mine in Kiruna, Sweden, and the future need for silicosis control. 378 32

In a retrospective cohort mortality study of 10,403 Minnesota iron-ore (hematite) miners no excesses of lung cancer mortality were found among either underground (Standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 100) or above ground (SMR = 88) miners. Yugoslav-born miners incurred a two-fold significant excess mortality for lung cancer that did not appear to be associated with their mining exposures. Significant excesses in mortality due to stomach cancer were found for both underground (SMR = 167) and aboveground (SMR = 181) miners as compared with U.S. white males. However, except among Finnish-born miners, these excesses disappeared when comparisons were made with the appropriate county rate. The apparent absence of significant radon exposure, a strict smoking prohibition underground, an aggressive silicosis control program, and the absence of underground diesel fuel use may explain why these underground miners did not appear to incur the lung cancer risk reported in other studies.
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PMID:A retrospective cohort mortality study of iron ore (hematite) miners in Minnesota. 403 88

Fibers of the amphibole mineral series have been demonstrated in the dust from an open taconite ore mine. Though the total dust levels in some places are high, exposures to fibers are below one fiber/cc. The energy dispersive X-ray spectra of the amphibole fibers correspond to those of cummingtonite-grunerite, hornblende, or actinolite. The same type and size distribution of fibers were found during post mortem analyses of lung tissue from two previously exposed miners. The pathological examination revealed an undifferentiated small cell carcinoma of left lung as well as pulmonary fibrosis in one of the cases. In the second case a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of left lung was found along with silicosis.
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PMID:Amphibole fibers in a taconite mine and in the lungs of the miners. 629 43

1. At world level, silicosis does not predispose to bronchial cancer. But from region to region, the relationship silicosis-cancer varies and depends on factors other than silica. 2. It has not been proved that silica is cancerigen in laboratory animal. 3. Subjects exposed to silica can also be exposed in other circumstances to known carcerigen agents (ionizing radiations, iron oxides, arsenic, exhaust gases of explosion engins). In Switzerland, it is possible that miners in galeries could breath low concentrations of radon and benzopyrene. But it is very difficult to know to what extent these potential risks are involved. 4. Bronchial carcinoma in silicotic patients does not own any characteristics. It is quite similar to that found in the remainder of the population. On the other hand, its diagnosis and treatment are more difficult because of the presence of silicosis. 5. The fortuitous association of silicosis and bronchial cancer is due to overlapping of the profiles of both diseases. The increasing life span of the silicotic patient and the high frequency of bronchial cancer explain why this association is not more exceptional.
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PMID:[Silicosis and bronchial cancer (author's transl)]. 738 60

Taconite is a low-grade iron ore consisting of iron, quartz, and numerous silicates. Taconite from the eastern tip of the Mesabi Iron Range contains the amphibole silicate cummingtonite-grunerite, which is a mineral relative of amosite asbestos. In the present study, data were collected from 249 men with 20 or more years of exposure to taconite dust and 86 men without history of intimate exposure to taconite dust. Bronchitic symptoms and impairment of expiratory flow correlated significantly with history of cigarette smoking, but not with exposure to dust. Chest radiographs revealed three cases of possible silicosis. No case of definite interstitial fibrosis, ill-defined diaphragm, pleural calcification, or mesothelioma was found. We conclude that (1) cigarette smoking is significantly correlated with bronchitic symptoms and impairment of expiratory flow; (2) taconite workers are at risk of silicosis; (3) if dust containing cummingtonite-grunerite has biologic activity comparable to that of dust from asbestos, it is not evident after 20 years of low-level exposure.
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PMID:Respiratory effects of exposure to dust in taconite mining and processing. 741 94

Two cases of extrathoracic silicosis in buffaloes raised near a quartz quarry and suffering from clinically severe silicosis are described. The extrapulmonary changes were characterized by silicoconiotic nodules in the tonsils, mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen. A combination of energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the mineral component of these lesions consisted mainly of silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, sulphur and potassium. It is concluded that domestic animals raised in polluted environmental conditions represent an important biological source from which helpful data may be obtained for assessing risks to human health and gaining new insight into pathogenetic mechanisms.
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PMID:Extrapulmonary silicosis in two water buffaloes. 772 11


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