title: Clinical, pathological and mineralogical features in two autopsy cases of workers exposed to agalmatolite dust.
abstract: An agalmatolite miner and processor showed large shadows at the bilateral hila accompanied by surrounding emphysematous changes and irregular shadows on chest X-ray films. Chest CT scans were characterized by a mixture of tiny irregular structures and small round opacities. Histopathological examination revealed massive fibrosis, which corresponded to large shadows, but only a small number of typical silicotic nodules, indicating mixed dust pneumoconiosis. Mineralogical examination of the autopsy lungs showed quartz, pyrophyllite, mica, and kaolinite. Quartz accounted for 70% of the amount of all mineral dust in both patients, but pyrophyllite accounted for 10.8% and 14.4%. The pulmonary mineral dust composition in the two patients was well consistent with the mineral composition of the raw clays in the agalmatolite mine. In the two patients, chest X-ray findings and histopathological findings of the lungs also suggested agalmatolite pneumoconiosis, which was confirmed by mineral analysis of the lungs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Pulmonary Disease, Okayama Rousai Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morinaga
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamawaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kohyama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shinohara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004391:Dust / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019016:Mineral Fibers / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011009:Pneumoconiosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D004391:Dust; D019016:Mineral Fibers