Fact-sheet: Asbestos-related pleural plaque


Updated on 10/03/2018 at 2:43 PM

Note : 0/10

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Definition

Asbestos-related parietal pleural fibrosis

Clinical features

Asymptomatic

CT

Sharp, abrupt, quadrangular elevation of the parietal pleura

Soft-tissue density, often calcified

With an irregular surface

Measuring a few mm to several cm

Variable in number

If the plaque is thick, slight parenchymal retraction at the contact point

Typical location:

  • anterolateral, from the 3rd to the 5th intercostal space
  • posterolateral, in the costophrenic groove from the 6th to the 9th intercostal space
  • at the dome of the hemidiaphragms
  • often bilateral but asymmetric

Management

Occupational disease.

Differential diagnosis

  • Extrapleural fat
  • Internal thoracic vessels, or intercostal vessels
  • Transversus thoracis muscle, or intercostal muscle, or subcostal muscle
  • Accessory fissure
  • Muscular bundle of the diaphragm
  • Visceral pleural fibrosis
  • Stage II Sarcoidosis
  • Silicosis