Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1988 Sep;43(9):708–714. doi: 10.1136/thx.43.9.708

Functional similarities of asbestosis and cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis.

J Markos 1, A W Musk 1, K E Finucane 1
PMCID: PMC461460  PMID: 3194877

Abstract

The pathological features in the lung in asbestosis and cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis are similar. Patients with asbestosis, however, appear to have less severe impairment of transfer factor (TLCO) than those with fibrosing alveolitis for a given level of radiographic abnormality when assessed on the basis of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) profusion score. The impairment of lung function in the two disorders has been compared in more detail in 29 patients with asbestosis and 25 with fibrosing alveolitis, arterial oxygen desaturation during exercise being used to define the severity of the disorders. Arterial oxygen saturation (ear oximeter) and oxygen uptake were measured during incremental exercise on a cycle ergometer. TLCO (single breath technique) and total lung capacity (TLC, plethysmograph) were measured. Chest radiographs were graded for profusion according to the ILO international classification. Patients with asbestosis had significantly higher mean values for TLCO and TLC and lower mean profusion scores than those with fibrosing alveolitis. When stratified for the degree of arterial oxygen desaturation, however, no significant differences were found in TLCO, TLC, or profusion score between the two disorders. To the extent that arterial oxygen desaturation with exercise reflects the morphological severity of the disease, these results suggest that, for a given degree of interstitial lung disease, asbestosis and cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis are functionally and radiologically similar.

Full text

PDF
708

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BLAKEMORE W. S., FORSTER R. E., MORTON J. W., OGILVIE C. M. A standardized breath holding technique for the clinical measurement of the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide. J Clin Invest. 1957 Jan;36(1 Pt 1):1–17. doi: 10.1172/JCI103402. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carrington C. B. Structure and function in sarcoidosis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1976;278:265–283. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1976.tb47038.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cookson W. O., Musk A. W., Glancy J. J. Asbestosis and cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis: a radiological and functional comparison. Aust N Z J Med. 1984 Oct;14(5):626–630. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1984.tb05013.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cookson W. O., Musk A. W., Glancy J. J. Pleural thickening and gas transfer in asbestosis. Thorax. 1983 Sep;38(9):657–661. doi: 10.1136/thx.38.9.657. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. DUBOIS A. B., BOTELHO S. Y., BEDELL G. N., MARSHALL R., COMROE J. H., Jr A rapid plethysmographic method for measuring thoracic gas volume: a comparison with a nitrogen washout method for measuring functional residual capacity in normal subjects. J Clin Invest. 1956 Mar;35(3):322–326. doi: 10.1172/JCI103281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fulmer J. D., Roberts W. C., von Gal E. R., Crystal R. G. Morphologic-physiologic correlates of the severity of fibrosis and degree of cellularity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. J Clin Invest. 1979 Apr;63(4):665–676. doi: 10.1172/JCI109349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gaensler E. A., Carrington C. B., Coutu R. E., Tomasian A., Hoffman L., Smith A. A. Pathologica, physiological, and radiological correlations in the pneumoconioses. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1972 Dec 29;200:574–607. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1972.tb40218.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gaensler E. A., Carrington C. B. Open biopsy for chronic diffuse infiltrative lung disease: clinical, roentgenographic, and physiological correlations in 502 patients. Ann Thorac Surg. 1980 Nov;30(5):411–426. doi: 10.1016/s0003-4975(10)61291-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kelley M. A., Daniele R. P. Exercise testing in interstitial lung disease. Clin Chest Med. 1984 Mar;5(1):145–156. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Keogh B. A., Crystal R. G. Clinical significance of pulmonary function tests. Pulmonary function testing in interstitial pulmonary disease. What does it tell us? Chest. 1980 Dec;78(6):856–865. doi: 10.1378/chest.78.6.856. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Miller A., Thornton J. C., Warshaw R., Anderson H., Teirstein A. S., Selikoff I. J. Single breath diffusing capacity in a representative sample of the population of Michigan, a large industrial state. Predicted values, lower limits of normal, and frequencies of abnormality by smoking history. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1983 Mar;127(3):270–277. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1983.127.3.270. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Regan G. M., Tagg B., Walford J., Thomson M. L. The relative importance of clinical, radiological and pulmonary function variables in evaluating asbestosis and chronic obstructive airway disease in asbestos workers. Clin Sci. 1971 Dec;41(6):569–582. doi: 10.1042/cs0410569. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Risk C., Epler G. R., Gaensler E. A. Exercise alveolar-arterial oxygen pressure difference in interstitial lung disease. Chest. 1984 Jan;85(1):69–74. doi: 10.1378/chest.85.1.69. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Turner-Warwick M., Burrows B., Johnson A. Cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis: clinical features and their influence on survival. Thorax. 1980 Mar;35(3):171–180. doi: 10.1136/thx.35.3.171. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Turner-Warwick M., Haslam P. Antibodies in some chronic fibrosing lung diseases. I. Non organ-specific autoantibodies. Clin Allergy. 1971 Mar;1(1):83–95. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1971.tb02450.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES