Asbestos is a term that includes a number of magnesium and iron silicates, fibrous, very complex, with different chemical composition and morphology. The three most important types are: chrysotile (Mg 3 Si 2 O 5 (OH 4), white asbestos), crocidolite (Na 2 Fe +2 Fe +3 (OH / Si 4 O 11) 2, blue asbestos) and amosite ( brown asbestos). The first is the upper airway and the other two reach the lung periphery. Asbestosis is then for a silicatosis.
Exposure to asbestos can cause: fibrous pleural plaques, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum.
Pleural fibrous plaques: Unlike the fibrous thickening of the visceral pleura accompanying asbestosis, the plates are located in the parietal pleura, postero-lateral areas, mainly on the ribs and diaphragm, are bilateral, well defined, irregular, whitish and upraised. The surface can be nodular or smooth, simulate articular cartilage. Histological, collagen lamellae consist of hyaline and sparsely cellular. There may be extensive foci’s of calcification. The so-called ferruginous bodies or asbestos bodies are not found in large quantities in the plates, but in the lung itself. Currently there is evidence to support the idea that pleural plaques are precursors of malignant mesothelioma.
Asbestosis: mean pulmonary fibrosis by inhalation of asbestos dust. All types of asbestos above can produce, to varying degrees. The most important is the concentration and exposure time. The shorter fibers (10 mm or less) are phagocytosed or surrounded by macrophages forming granulomas. The largest, both favor the precipitation of endogenous protein and iron and leave the fiber as the core and forming the so-called ferruginous bodies or asbestos bodies. These structures are thin, elongated cane, yellow copper, up to 50 um long. The proteinaceous shell is usually segmented and the ends are bulbous. The finding of asbestos bodies in lung or sputum indicates exposure, not only is evidence of asbestos disease. These bodies have been found in people of the metropolis, not exposed, up to 60% of autopsies.
He has not talked much about this disease, in that it is one of the cancers are not as common and widespread. It is a cancerous tumor in the lining of the lung and thorac cavity (commonly called the pleura) or abdomen lining (commonly called the peritoneum) and typically is caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos is classified into 2 groups based on its physical properties: the serpentines, which tend to be wavy and long, and the amphiboles, which are straight and rodlike. The most important member of the serpentines is chrysotile, which makes up more than 90% of the asbestos used in the United States. The amphibole group includes crocidolite, amosite, and tremolite, which is often found as a contaminant of chrysotile ore.
