RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The pathology of parietal pleural plaques
JF Journal of Clinical Pathology
JO J Clin Pathol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Association of Clinical Pathologists
SP 348
OP 353
DO 10.1136/jcp.24.4.348
VO 24
IS 4
A1 Roberts, G. Hefin
YR 1971
UL http://jcp.bmj.com/content/24/4/348.abstract
AB The incidence, morbid anatomy, histology, and relationship of hyaline pleural plaques to exposure to asbestos has been studied. Plaques were found in 12·3% of 334 hospital necropsies (in an urban population in Glasgow, 41 cases). In 85·3% (35 cases) asbestos bodies were found in the lungs. There is evidence of a dose-response relationship between the number of asbestos bodies found in the lungs and the presence of pleural plaques. The selective distribution of plaques within the pleural cavities suggests that mechanical factors play a part in their localization. Histological examination contributed little to understanding the mechanism of plaque formation; that asbestos bodies have been detected in only a few cases suggest that their presence in the parietal pleura is not essential to plaque formation. The suggested mechanisms of plaque formation are discussed.