Asbestos bodies in bronchoalveolar lavage in the 21st century: a time-trend analysis in a clinical population.
Occup Environ Med
; 74(1): 59-65, 2017 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27550908
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Asbestos bodies (AB) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) can be detected by light microscopy and their concentration is indicative of past cumulative asbestos exposure. We assessed clinical and exposure characteristics, as well as possible time trends, among patients in whom AB had been quantified in BAL.METHODS:
BAL samples obtained from 578 participants between January 1997 and December 2014 were available for analysis. The processing of samples and the microscopic analysis were performed by a single expert and 76% of samples came from a single tertiary care hospital, allowing clinical and exposure data to be extracted from patient files.RESULTS:
The study population (95% males) had a mean age of 62.5 (±12.4) years. AB were detected in 55.2% of the samples, giving a median concentration of 0.5â AB/mL (95th centile 23.6â AB/mL; highest value 164.5â AB/mL). The AB concentration exceeded 1â AB/mL in 39.4% and 5â AB/mL in 17.8%. A significant decrease from a geometric mean of 0.93â AB/mL in 1997 to 0.2â AB/mL in 2014 was apparent. High AB concentrations generally corresponded with occupations with (presumed) high asbestos exposure. AB concentrations were higher among patients with asbestosis and pleural plaques, when compared with other disease groups. Nevertheless, a substantial proportion of participants with likely exposure to asbestos did not exhibit high AB counts.CONCLUSIONS:
This retrospective study of a large clinical population supports the value of counting AB in BAL as a complementary approach to assess past exposure to asbestos.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Amianto
/
Líquido da Lavagem Broncoalveolar
/
Exposição Ocupacional
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article