RESUMO
Asbestos was used in numerous products until its total ban in Denmark in 1988. The prevalence of asbestosis and pleural plaques does not yet appear to be falling. Unfortunately the statistics are unreliable due to errors in the Danish translation of the ICD-10 codes of the disease. In this review, clinical and radiologic diagnostic criteria of asbestosis and pleural plaques and recommendations for follow-up of patients are described. Typical changes on a high-resolution CT scan combined with relevant asbestos exposure is essential for the diagnosis. Asbestosis and pleural plaques are both notifiable in Denmark.
Assuntos
Asbestose , Doenças Pleurais , Amianto/efeitos adversos , Asbestose/diagnóstico , Asbestose/etiologia , Asbestose/fisiopatologia , Asbestose/terapia , Dinamarca , Humanos , Classificação Internacional de Doenças , Doenças Profissionais/diagnóstico , Doenças Profissionais/etiologia , Doenças Profissionais/fisiopatologia , Doenças Profissionais/terapia , Exposição Ocupacional/efeitos adversos , Doenças Pleurais/diagnóstico , Doenças Pleurais/etiologia , Doenças Pleurais/fisiopatologia , Doenças Pleurais/terapia , Radiografia , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios X , TraduçõesRESUMO
Asbestosis is interstitial lung fibrosis due to inhalation of asbestos fibres. Up to the ban of import in 1986, 0.7 mil tons had been used in Denmark. The diagnosis of asbestosis is a challenge because of long latency time and very few national occupational asbestos measurements. The cornerstone of exposure assessment is a thorough occupational history, investigation of asbestos content in products used, search for possible and relevant measurements of asbestos fibres in the air, and results of lung biopsies, if present. Although no definite lower limit of exposure can be defined, a cumulated exposure of > 10 fibre-years is a relevant measure for exposure defining the disease, as one fibre-year equals one asbestos fibre/cm3 air/occupational year.
