Asbestos-induced visceral pleural fibrosis reduces pulmonary compliance.

To determine the nature of respiratory functional impairment caused by asbestos-induced visceral pleural fibrosis (VPF) and to discover which pulmonary physiological variable best reveals it, we examined 59 asbestos-exposed construction workers having asbestos-related changes on chest radiographs. Computed tomography scans of the thorax were also performed. Visceral pleural fibrosis was diagnosed in 29 subjects: seven had only VPF, 17 had VPF and pleural plaques, and five had VPF, plaques, and asbestosis. In subjects without VPF, 23 had plaques, six had plaques and asbestosis, and one had only minor fibrotic parenchymal changes insufficient for a diagnosis of asbestosis. Flow-volume spirometry, body plethysmography, static and dynamic compliance, and pulmonary diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide were measured. The subjects with VPF had significantly lower static (p = 0.005) and dynamic (p = 0.007) compliance values than those without. Other respiratory function variables failed to show any significant differences. We conclude that the measurement of static and dynamic compliance is a useful method in assessing pulmonary function impairment caused by visceral pleural fibrosis.

Platelet indices in patients with occlusive carotid artery disease.

During the period 1965-1984 a total of 279 patients underwent carotid endarterectomy at the Tampere University Hospital; 160 of them were reexamined twenty-eight to two hundred nine months later to investigate whether there are any long-term differences in platelet properties according to the endpoint that led to operation. Platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV), and plateletcrit were estimated and compared with the respective values for controls. Classified according to the indication for operation, patients with stroke had a significantly higher platelet count, 292 x 10(9)/L (SE 11), than patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA), 255 x 10(9)/L (SE 5, p < 0.01), or controls, 267 x 10(9)/L (SE 6, p < 0.05). Patients with stroke or TIA had a higher MPV than the controls. When the patients were grouped according to their physical condition at the time of the control examination, the largest platelets, 10.84 x 10(-15) L (SE 0.40), were found in the group of patients who felt well but who had a symptom or finding assumed to be due to a carotid disease.