Amosite Mesothelioma in a Cohort of Asbestos Workers

Joseph Ribak；Herbert Seidman；Irving J Selikoff

age at on set ； death certificate ； diagnosis ； diagnostic procedures ； peritoneal ； pleural ； survival ； symptoms

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health

15卷2期（1989 / 03 / 01）

106 - 110

英文

A cohort of 820 asbestos workers with a short duration of exposure to amosite between 1941 and 1945 was followed. These men were alive five years after starting work and were ob served until 1988. Seventeen cases of malignant mesothelioma (eight pleural, nine peritoneal) were found. The mean age at the on set of exposure was 33 years for men with pleural mesothelioma and 30 years for those with peritoneal mesothelioma. Chest pain was the main symptom in pleural mesothelioma and abdominal pain in peritoneal mesothelioma. Open lung biopsy was the most useful diagnostic approach for pleural mesothelioma, whereas for peritoneal mesothelioma it was exploratory laparotomy. Pleural patients died of pulmonary insufficiency, and peritoneal patients of wasting and inanition. In both groups the death certificate diagnosis was less accurate than the clinical diagnosis at death. The mean survival was 12.5 months from first symptom to death for the pleural group and 5.4 months for the peritoneal group.