| pubmed-article:1801911 | pubmed:abstractText | Histopathological analysis of massive fibrosis (MF) in lungs obtained from 79 patients with chronic pneumoconiosis revealed evidence of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (AP) in a surprisingly high proportion of the cases (73%), suggesting that AP may be a usual constituent of MF in chronic pneumoconiosis. AP is not a specific morphological counterpart responsible for acute silicosis. In order to explain the occurrence of AP in MF, several hypothetical mechanisms are proposed and discussed. | lld:pubmed |
