A case of asbestosis / 대한산업의학회지

ABSTRACT

Asbestosis is the disease of pulmonary fibrosis caused by the inhaled asbestos fibers, and could be diagnosed clinically, in the case of exposure history to asbestos is proved, by clinical symptoms of dyspnea or dry cough, physical examination findings, and the radiographic features. But many other inorganic dusts would show similar findings in the chest radiogram and sometimes the exposure history is obscure, so for the exact diagnosis of asbestosis lung biopsy is needed. In Korea, there have been some reports of survey in the workplace where asbestos is handled or of asbestos related diseases. This is a case report of asbestosis with accompanying pleural plaques, who had the occupational exposure to asbestos for 30 years and the consistent clinical, radiographic and pathological findings in the lung tissue obtained by the videoscope assisted thoracoscopic biopsy(VATS).