Original scientific paper
Baritosis
M. Branisavljević
; Centralni higijenski zavod, Antituberkulozni dispanzer, Institut za patološku anatomiju, Sarajevo
Z. Kopač
; Centralni higijenski zavod, Antituberkulozni dispanzer, Institut za patološku anatomiju, Sarajevo
G. Merkulov
; Centralni higijenski zavod, Antituberkulozni dispanzer, Institut za patološku anatomiju, Sarajevo
S. Teofanović
; Centralni higijenski zavod, Antituberkulozni dispanzer, Institut za patološku anatomiju, Sarajevo
Abstract
There are several barite mines in our country. Mining and milling of barite through a number of years causes baritosis which consists in pathological changes in the bronchi and the lungs of the workers. The authors examined 31 workers from a barite mill who had been working from 1-14 years without any protective measures in a very dusty environment. All complained of cough with much sputum, some of dyspnoea with the clinical signs of an emphysema of the lung. Not one had heart trouble, blood pressure corresponded to age, haemoglobin was without pathological changes, sputum was Kochnegative and urine without pathological findings. Radiography disclosed in the lung of all workers rare, translucent, flocky nodules different from those in miliary tuberculosis or in silicosis. No case was complicated by active tuberculosis or by the influence of the expected silicotic component. The main characteristics of baritosis appeared in three stages according to the dissemination, the translucence and the size of the nodules. The pathologico-morphological findings of the lung of one such worker who had died of another intercurrent disease pointed to bronchitis chronica catarrhalis. The histological finding gave a picture of ratification of the parenchyme of the lung, of atrophy of the lung interstitium and, specifically, of disseminated nodules. Those changes were an evidence of nodular pneumoconiosis. The postmortem of that case clearly showed that there are considerable histological differences between baritosis and other nodular pneumoconioses. There is a complete absence of nodules composed of fibrous or sclerotic tissue. Barium nodules are mostly built of the pigment of barite and contain very little fibrous fibres.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
187056
URI
Publication date:
15.9.1953.
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