Dental technician's pneumoconiosis: case report.

Pneumoconiosis is an interstitial lung disease due to dust and mineral exposure. Pneumoconiosis can be seen in dental technicians due to chronic exposure to inorganic dusts such as silica, silicon carbid, asbest and metalic dusts such as cobalt, molibden, berilium and nickel. A 59-year-old male, a d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 520 - 524
Main Authors: Ediboglu, Ozlem, Tellioglu, Emel, Sengoren, Ozlem, Ozacar, Rifat
Format: case study diagnostic images pictorial tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Turkiye Klinikleri Apr2012
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Pneumoconiosis is an interstitial lung disease due to dust and mineral exposure. Pneumoconiosis can be seen in dental technicians due to chronic exposure to inorganic dusts such as silica, silicon carbid, asbest and metalic dusts such as cobalt, molibden, berilium and nickel. A 59-year-old male, a dental technician worked in dental laboratory for 20 years, was admitted with chest pain, fever and dyspnea. He had rales and ronchi in the base of the lungs, bilaterally. Bilateral diffuse micronodular densities were found on the chest radiogram. Bilateral millimetric nodular lesions more striking in the upper lobes were seen in the thorax high resolution computerized tomography. There was a restrictive pattern in the pulmonary function tests. There was no endobronchial lesion in bronchoscopy. Zinc, chlorine, nickel, chromium, titanium and barium elements were isolated in the bronchoalveolar lavage. The case is presented together with the literature as a complex pneumoconiosis case due to inhalation of multiple mineral particles.