This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Karakoca, Y. Articles by Baris, Y. I. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Environmental Pleural Plaques due to Asbestos and Fibrous Zeolite Exposure in Turkey

Department of Chest Diseases, Hacettepe University, School of Medicine

Salih Emri

Department of Chest Diseases, Hacettepe University, School of Medicine

Ayten Kayi Cangir

ibni Sina Hospital, Department of Chest Surgery, Ankara University, School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Yusuf Izzettin Bari

Department of Chest Diseases, Hacettepe University, School of Medicine

There are many districts in central and south-eastern Anatolia where benign and malignant pleural diseases occur as a result of environmental exposure to mineral fibres. Tremolite asbestos is found in the region and, in addition, in certain areas, there is a unique non-asbestos fibre called erionite which is a fibrous zeolite and which causes pulmonary diseases similar to those produced by asbestos. In this article we would like to report the frequency of calcified pleural plaques in a large-scale epidemiological study in Turkey. The presence of such plaques is considered indicative of mineral fibre exposure. The miner alogy of the region, exposure characteristics of the population and frequency of detection by computerised tomography, thoracoscopy and thoracotomy are also given.

Key Words: Calcified pleural plaque • Fibrous zeolite (erionite) • Environmental chest diseases

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?