A small animal model study of perlite and fir bark dust on guinea pig lungs.

Fir bark (Abies) and perlite (noncrystalline silicate) dusts have been reported to cause pulmonary disease in humans. Guinea pigs were exposed to either fir bark or perlite dust in a special chamber. Severe pathologic changes occurred in the lungs, consisting of lymphoid aggregated and a perivascular inflammatory response. Both dusts caused similar changes although one was vegetable (fir bark) and the other mineral (perlite). Fir bark and perlite dust appeared to be more than just nuisance dusts.

Non-invasive magnetopneumographic determination of lung dust loads in steel arc welders.

Magnetopneumography was used to measure non-invasively the concentration of the ferrimagnetic fraction of retained welding fume in the thoraces of steel arc welders. This was done by measuring the remanent magnetic fields due to ferrimagnetic particles. The 11 welders studied had concentrations of thoracic ferrimagnetic mineral several orders of magnitude greater than three machinists, 16 former asbestos insulators and 24 control subjects. These concentrations correlated well with total years welding (p less than 0.01) and radiographic evidence of small rounded densities (p less than 0.05), but not with smoking history. There was a higher concentration of ferrimagnetic mineral over the hilar regions. Magnetopneumography offers a non-invasive indicator of the accumulation of welding fume in the thorax.

Alveolar proteinosis lung lavage using partial cardiopulmonary bypass.

An adult case of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis presented with an arterial oxygen tension of 27 mmHg (3.6 kPa) while breathing air. Dangerous hypoxaemia during lung lavage was avoided by using partial cardiopulmonary bypass.

The prevalence of serum antibodies to Legionella pneumophila in patients with chronic pulmonary disease.

Sera from 113 outpatient with chronic pulmonary disease and 76 control subjects were tested by the indirect immunofluorescent technique for serum antibodies against Legionella pneumophila. No patient had an antibody titer greater than or equal to 1:256, a titer presumptive for past or present infection by Legionella pneumophila. However, 2 patients had a titer of 1:126, and 9 patients had a titer of 1:64. The control group (n = 76) had titers no higher than 1:32 (p less than 0.01). Eight of the 11 patients with a titer greater than 1:64 were from the subgroup of 41 patients with asthma (p less than 0.05), but this correlation was not attributable to corticosteroid therapy. Only 3 of 35 patients receiving corticosteroids at greater than replacement dosage had titers greater or equal to 1:64. The clinical significance of a single titer below 1:256, observed in 11 patients, is unknown.

Non-invasive magnetopneumographic estimation of lung dust loads and distribution in bituminous coal workers.

Magnetopneumography is a non-invasive technique for measuring the ferrimagnetic portion of retained dust in the lungs by means of its permanent magnetism. Magnetopneumography was used to measure the magnetic fraction of coal mine dust in 21 retired disabled bituminous coal miners and 14 active miners. Twenty rural subjects served as controls. The retired disabled miners had significantly higher levels of pulmonary ferrimagnetic mineral than the control subjects and most active miners (p < 0.001). Three of the active miners had significantly higher levels of ferrimagnetic mineral than did the other active miners and the control subjects (p < 0.005), yet could not be differentiated from other miners by work history or chest roentgenograms. This elevation could not be accounted for by sources other than coal mine dust. A pattern of central hilar concentration of ferrimagnetic mineral was noted in both retired and active miners. These results suggest that magnetopneumography is sufficiently sensitive to permit the non-invasive study of coal mine dust accumulation and distribution in the lung.

Bronchial angiofibromata in a suspected case of tuberous sclerosis.

Widespread hamartomatous proliferations are often seen with tuberous sclerosis, yet pulmonary involvement is rare. We describe a patient with a probable forme fruste of tuberous sclerosis in whom the diagnosis of bronchial angiofibromata was made bronchoscopically. This is the first description of this pulmonary manifestation.