title: Five cases of pleural mesothelioma with endemic pleural calcifications in a rural area in Greece.
abstract: The authors describe 5 cases of pleural mesothelioma in a rural population of Macedonia, Greece. This population had been covered by an X-ray study over a 3-year period to detect pleural calcifications compatible with asbestos exposure. The study revealed a 24.2% prevalence of pleural plaques among the inhabitants aged over 40 years of 7 rural villages. High contents of asbestos (chrysotile and tremolite)--up to 90% by volume--were found in the material that was used for whitewashing the houses up to 1935. Even now, environmental concentrations of 0.01 fibres/ml were recorded in the houses. The prevalence of pleural mesothelioma in this rural population is high compared to the general population. A possible explanation of the phenomenon may be a cumulative environmental exposure to asbestos which, even though presumably within the acceptable limits for occupational exposure, lasted over a much longer time period, in terms of both daily exposure and total duration.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Clinic, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, School of Medicine, Greece.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sichletidis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daskalopoulou
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tsarou
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pnevmatikos
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chloros
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vamvalis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001194:Asbestos / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D011859:Radiography
chemical_list: D001194:Asbestos