ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To assess the reliability of low-dose high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in the detection of benign asbestos-related pleural abnormalities. METHODS: Fourty-one patients exposed to asbestos were imaged on two occasions; the first time with conventional HRCT parameters: 140kVp, 220mAs; the second time with low-dose HRCT parameters: 120kVp, 60mAs. RESULTS: The qualitative assessment dit not show any difference in the visibility of benign pleural abnormalities from one technique to the other in 98% cases. CONCLUSION: The detection of pleural plaques and thickening did not vary with the two scanning protocols and, when compared with conventional HRCT, low-dose HRCT allows reduced radiation exposure by at least 76.5%, with an absorbed dose close to that delivered when using conventional chest radiography. Nevertheless, low-dose HRCT is a complementary study to helical acquisitions.
Subject(s)
Asbestos/adverse effects , Occupational Exposure/adverse effects , Pleural Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Pleural Diseases/etiology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Radiation DosageABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to determine whether certain criteria could be used to select among asbestos-exposed subjects those who could benefit from computed tomography screening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Search for criteria enabling the selection of patients who should undergo a CT screening exam after occupational exposure to asbestos was conducted in 150 subjects. All subjects were explored with selected high-resolution CT scans. Studied parameters were age, exposure data, pulmonary function test results. RESULTS: None of the exposure data or pulmonary function test results suggested with certainty the presence or absence of asbestos-related pleural and parenchymal lung disease. The studied parameters could not be used to select patients who could benefit from CT screening. CONCLUSION: None of the studied parameters enabled a selection of asbestos-exposed subjects who should undergo chest CT screening.
Subject(s)
Asbestos/adverse effects , Asbestosis/diagnostic imaging , Carcinogens/adverse effects , Mass Screening , Occupational Exposure , Patient Selection , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Asbestos, Crocidolite/adverse effects , Asbestos, Serpentine/adverse effects , Asbestosis/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Male , Maximal Expiratory Flow-Volume Curves , Middle Aged , Pleural Diseases/diagnosis , Pleural Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity , Residual Volume/physiology , Spirometry , Time Factors , Vital CapacityABSTRACT
A primary pulmonary location of a hemangiopericytoma, a tumor of vascular origin developing from pericytes, is very rarely observed, no more than 40 cases having been reported in the published literature. Diagnosis cannot be based on clinical symptomatology, often inexistent, or on radiological findings which are not very characteristic, but depends on results of pathological examination. Malignant potentiality, assessed by the pathologist mainly by the presence of necrotic zones in the tumor, is evidenced by local recurrence and by metastases. The course is unpredictable and the tendency is for local recurrences to occur. The only current effective treatment is by excision.
