We conducted a medical screening for beryllium disease of 577 former workers from a beryllium processing facility. The screening included a medical and work history questionnaire, a chest radiograph, and blood lymphocyte proliferation testing for beryllium. A task exposure and a job exposure matrix were constructed to examine the association between exposure to beryllium and the development of ...

It is assumed that sarcoidosis is caused by inhalation of air borne agents in susceptible persons triggering the inflammatory reaction. The association of metallic dust exposure, such as beryllium and aluminium, and sarcoidlike pulmonary disorders is well known. The ability of man-made mineral fibres (MMMF) to cause granulomatous lung disease has not been appreciated until now. Recently, we obs...

The Langhans’ giant cell described in 1868 is a large cell with numerous nuclei arranged in a ring around the periphery of an eosinophilic cytoplasm.1’ 2 The cytoplasm is homogeneous or granular and may contain inclusions such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The foreign body type giant cell can be distinguished by the presence of nuclei throughout the substance of the cytoplasm rather than at th...

In dermatology practice, it is very common to hear about „Bodies’’, which refer to a pthological structure with a particular features. Most of them are large and can be seen by light microscopy, but there are few very tiny bodies which can only be seen by electron microscopy. Examples for the latter are comma-shaped body, and the worm-shaped body, seen in histiocytoses like benign cephalic hist...

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic multisystem disorder characterized by noncaseating epithelioid granulomas predominately affecting lungs and lymph nodes, but with potential to affect any organ system. Sarcoidosis shares similarities in development to other infectious granulomatous diseases, such as berylliosis and tuberculosis; however, its elusive etiology and non-distinctive histology have provid...

Bronchoscopic balloon dilation (BBD) is a useful method of treating tracheobronchial stenosis. Tracheobronchial stenosis in adults can arise from benign or malignant disease. Benign stenosis causes include sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, Wegener’s granulomatosis, trauma, berylliosis, and foreign body reaction. Furthermore, it can arise after prolonged endotracheal intubation, after sleeve resection ...

The pathobiology of chronic beryllium disease (CBD) involves the major histocompatibility complex class II human leukocyte antigen (HLA). Although occupational exposure to beryllium is the cause of CBD, molecular epidemiologic studies suggest that specific (Italic)HLA-DPB1(/Italic) alleles may be genetic susceptibility factors. We have studied three-dimensional structural models of HLA-DP prote...

We have studied the serum electrophoretic patterns in 25 patients with sarcoidosis. The electrophoretic serum analysis was made by the method of MacDonald et al,1 normal values in paper electrophoresis are presented in Table I. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis was established in each case by clinical and laboratory studies, the biopsy showing the usual microscopic picture of non-casting epitheloid ...

Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) is a fibrotic lung disorder caused by beryllium (Be) exposure and is characterized by granulomatous inflammation and the accumulation of Be-responsive CD4(+) T cells in the lung. Genetic susceptibility to CBD has been associated with certain alleles of the MHCII molecule HLA-DP, especially HLA-DPB1*0201 and other alleles that contain a glutamic acid residue at po...

Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) is a granulomatous lung disorder that is associated with the accumulation of beryllium (Be)-specific CD4(+) T cells into the lung. Genetic susceptibility is linked to HLA-DPB1 alleles that possess a glutamic acid at position 69 (βGlu69), and HLA-DPB1*02:01 is the most prevalent βGlu69-containing allele. Using HLA-DP2 transgenic (Tg) mice, we developed a model of ...