Kaolin pneumoconiosis. Radiologic, pathologic, and mineralogic findings.

Pulmonary tissue obtained at thoracotomy or autopsy from 5 kaolin workers with complicated pneumoconiosis was studied by optical light and scanning electron microscopy. Premortem or preoperative chest roentgenograms demonstrated small irregular shadows and large opacities typical of kaolin pneumoconiosis. On gross examination, there were firm, grey-brown nodules and masses in the parenchyma and in the hilar lymph nodes.

Kaolin pneumoconiosis. A case report.

A 35-year-old man who had been occupationally exposed to aerosolized kaolin for 17 years in a Georgia processing plant had diffuse reticulonodular pulmonary infiltrates and an upper lobe mass. Exploratory thoracotomy, performed to evaluate the nature of the mass, revealed an 8 X 12 X 10-cm conglomerate pneumoconiotic lesion containing large amounts of kaolinite. Coincident deposition of silica in the tissue was not demonstrable by either analytic scanning electron microscopy or x-ray diffraction.

Crescentic light-chain glomerulopathy. Report of a case.

Light-chain glomerulopathy occurred in a middle-aged woman with adult-onset diabetes mellitus and IgG-kappa light-chain multiple myeloma. Unusual features of the glomerulopathy included the presence of numerous epithelial crescents and rapid progression to chronic renal failure. The aggressiveness of her disease may be related to her underlying diabetes mellitus and associated abnormalities in glomerular clearance of macromolecules, including immunoglobulin light chains.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis with renal amyloidosis: a 23-year survival.

A 14-year-old girl with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis developed severe renal amyloidosis and presented with nephrosis and renal failure. Renal function returned to normal in a year and over 23 years, serial biopsies showed remarkable, biopsy-proven regression of amyloid deposits. Amyloid was not found in skin, gum or rectal biopsies.

Mineral dusts as etiologic agents in pulmonary fibrosis: the diagnostic role of analytical scanning electron microscopy.

This report demonstrates the value of analytical scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the evaluation of patients with fibrosing pulmonary disease. We describe the findings in six illustrative cases in which prebiopsy or premortem clinical and epidemiologic information did not suggest an etiologic association with exposure to fibrogenic dusts. Exogenous materials were inconstantly recognized by polarized light microscopy, but examination by SEM resulted in localization of significant inorganic deposits in the biopsy and autopsy tissues studied.