Analysis of asbestos bodies in BAL from subjects with particular exposures

✍ Scribed by Paul De Vuyst; Pascal Dumortier; Pierre Alain Gevenois

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 175 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0271-3586
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199706)31:6<699::aid-ajim5>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

Four patients with asbestos-related diseases and with unusual exposures underwent bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for mineralogical analysis.

Asbestos bodies (AB) were counted by light microscopy and analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray energy spectrometry.

AB's were found in all cases, after a mean delay from the end of exposure of 27.7 years. Analysis of the core fibers indicated the type of alveolar asbestos burden and was compared with the previous exposures:

-Pleural plaques due to household exposure to amosite and crocidolite.

-Pleural plaques due to occult occupational exposure to crocidolite in a coal miner.

-Asbestosis due to environmental exposure to tremolite in Turkey.

-Asbestosis, pleural plaques, and peritoneal mesothelioma due to a short, intense exposure to crocidolite.

AB counting in BAL and identification of the central fibers by analytical electron microscopy is a useful, non-invasive and reliable method to evaluate the alveolar retention of bio-persistent fibers and to relate them to specific exposures.