title: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis as a component of massive fibrosis in cases of chronic pneumoconiosis. An autopsy study of 79 cases.
abstract: Histopathological analysis of massive fibrosis (MF) in lungs obtained from 79 patients with chronic pneumoconiosis revealed evidence of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (AP) in a surprisingly high proportion of the cases (73%), suggesting that AP may be a usual constituent of MF in chronic pneumoconiosis. AP is not a specific morphological counterpart responsible for acute silicosis. In order to explain the occurrence of AP in MF, several hypothetical mechanisms are proposed and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chiyotani
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011009:Pneumoconiosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins