Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28431523›Full record

ArticleBMC pulmonary medicine2017

The utility of electron microscopy in detecting asbestos fibers and particles in BALF in diffuse lung diseases.

Takashi Kido, Yasuo Morimoto, Kazuhiro Yatera, Hiroshi Ishimoto, Takaaki Ogoshi, Keishi Oda, Kei Yamasaki, Toshinori Kawanami, Shohei Shimajiri, Hiroshi Mukae

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Microplastics in Human Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid.Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Takashi KidoDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. t-kido@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp.
Yasuo MorimotoDepartment of Occupational Pneumology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Kazuhiro YateraDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Hiroshi IshimotoDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Takaaki OgoshiDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Keishi OdaDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Kei YamasakiDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Toshinori KawanamiDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Shohei ShimajiriSecond Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.
Hiroshi MukaeDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
University of Occupational and Environmental Health Japan · JPNagasaki University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn patients with diffuse lung diseases, differentiating occupational lung diseases from other diseases is clinically important. However, the value of assessing asbestos and particles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in diffuse lung diseases by electron microscopy (EM) remains unclear. We evaluated the utility of EM in detecting asbestos fibers and particles in patients with diffuse lung diseases.

methodsThe BALF specimens of 107 patients with diffuse lung diseases were evaluated. First, detection of asbestos by EM and light microscopy (LM) were compared. Second, the detection of asbestos using surgically obtained lung tissues of 8 of 107 patients were compared with the results of EM and LM in BALF. Third, we compared the results of mineralogical components of particles in patients with (n = 48) and without (n = 59) a history of occupational exposure to inorganic dust.

resultsBALF asbestos were detected in 11 of 48 patients with a history of occupational exposure by EM; whereas asbestos as asbestos bodies (ABs) were detected in BALF in 4 of these 11 patients by LM. Eight of 107 patients in whom lung tissue samples were surgically obtained, EM detected BALF asbestos at a level of >1,000 fibers/ml in all three patients who had ABs in lung tissue samples by LM at a level of >1,000 fibers/g. The BALF asbestos concentration by EM and in lung tissue by LM were positively correlated. The particle fractions of iron and phosphorus were increased in patients with a history of occupational exposure and both correlated with a history of occupational exposure by a multiple regression analysis.

conclusionsEM using BALF seemed to be superior to LM using BALF and displayed a similar sensitivity to LM using surgically-obtained lung tissue samples in the detection of asbestos. Our results also suggest that detection of elements, such as iron and phosphorus in particles, is useful for evaluating occupational exposure. We conclude that the detection of asbestos and iron and phosphorus in particles in BALF by EM is very useful for the evaluation of occupational exposure.

Indexed as

Microscopy, ElectronAsbestosAsbestosisBronchoalveolar Lavage FluidBronchoscopyFemaleHumansJapanLungMaleMiddle AgedOccupational ExposureRegression AnalysisAsbestosAsbestosBronchoalveolar lavageDiffuse lung diseasesElectron microscopyElementsLight microscopyOccupational exposure

Identifiers

PMID28431523
PMCPMC5401470
OpenAlexW2607230425

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.