RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Anthracofibrosis attributed to mixed mineral dust exposure: report of three cases
JF Thorax
JO Thorax
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Thoracic Society
SP 655
OP 657
DO 10.1136/thx.2006.070243
VO 63
IS 7
A1 J-M Naccache
A1 I Monnet
A1 H Nunes
A1 M-A Billon-Galland
A1 J-C Pairon
A1 F Guillon
A1 D Valeyre
YR 2008
UL http://thorax.bmj.com/content/63/7/655.abstract
AB Anthracofibrosis, defined as bronchial luminal narrowing with black pigmentation of the overlying mucosa, has been attributed to tuberculosis. Three patients with anthracofibrosis without mycobacterial infection are described who had previous occupational exposure to mixed dusts. CT scans showed calcified hilar lymph nodes in two patients. Surgical biopsy in one patient and autopsy in another revealed fibrotic lymph nodes with black pigmentation. Mineralogical analysis by transmission electron microscopy of pulmonary, hilar and/or bronchial samples found high levels of particle retention, raised percentages of free crystalline silica and mica in two patients, and free crystalline silica, kaolin and other silicates in the third. No evidence of any other contributory factor was found, suggesting that mixed mineral dust was the most probable cause. These observations suggest that exposure to mixed mineral dust should be added to the aetiology of anthracofibrosis.