Pulmonary asbestosis: radiographic appearances in skiagrams of the chests of workers in asbestos (1929)

This 1929 article was a case series describing chest X-rays (then called skiagrams) of people who had worked with asbestos. The author collected fifteen chest X-rays of asbestos workers seen at a local tuberculosis dispensary in Barking and at the Victoria Park Chest Hospital, with brief case notes. An X-ray of a South African gold miner was included for comparison. Exposure to asbestos dust ranged from one year to fourteen years. The author reported that X-rays of those exposed longest showed shadows suggesting diffuse scarring (fibrosis), mainly in the lower two-thirds of the lungs. The author also described a 'ground glass' look with fine mottling, signs of pleurisy at the lung bases, and thickening of the pleura at the lung tops. In general, the density and extent of the shadows were proportional to the length of exposure. Three patients died. Lung sections from one showed numerous unusual bodies. The author judged a diagnosis of pulmonary asbestosis justified in most cases, but cautioned that the series was small, follow-up was short, and tuberculosis could not be ruled out.

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From J-M's medical library

This copy comes from the Johns-Manville medical library. J-M listed it in its medical library index as no. 003106. Barry Castleman cites it in chapter 3, "Compensation: The Final Check-Up", of Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects (5th ed., 2005); see Reading Castleman.