Titanium Particles Identified by Energy-Dispersive X-ray Microanalysis Within the Lungs of a Painter at Autopsy

A 72-year-old male painter, who complained of his "lungs burning" for 2 weeks, died suddenly. Autopsy examination revealed severe coronary atherosclerosis with plaque rupture as the cause of death. Examination of the lungs revealed emphysema, interstitial fibrosis, and multinucleated giant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ultrastructural pathology 2003-03, Vol.27 (2), p.127-129
Main Authors: Humble, Scott, Allan Tucker, J., Boudreaux, Carole, King, Judy A. C., Snell, Kenneth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Coronary Artery Disease - complications
Coronary Artery Disease - pathology
Electron Probe Microanalysis
Humans
Lung
Lung - pathology
Lung - ultrastructure
Lung Diseases, Interstitial - complications
Lung Diseases, Interstitial - etiology
Lung Diseases, Interstitial - pathology
Male
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Paint - poisoning
Pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis - complications
Pneumoconiosis - etiology
Pneumoconiosis - pathology
Pulmonary Emphysema - etiology
Titanium
Titanium - analysis
Titanium - poisoning
X-ray Microanalysis
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Summary:A 72-year-old male painter, who complained of his "lungs burning" for 2 weeks, died suddenly. Autopsy examination revealed severe coronary atherosclerosis with plaque rupture as the cause of death. Examination of the lungs revealed emphysema, interstitial fibrosis, and multinucleated giant cells with intra- and extracellular brown-black, crystalline, polarizable foreign material. Energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis showed the material to contain titanium, aluminum, silicon, and iron. An increased incidence of respiratory disease has been reported in professional painters. Titanium is widely used as a pigment in the manufacturing of commercial paints. Cases of pneumoconiosis and alveolar proteinosis have been described in painters in which analysis of lung tissue revealed increased levels of titanium. This case is presented as an example of a rarely reported phenomenon, which may have clinical implications for evaluation and management of lung disease in painters.
ISSN:0191-3123
1521-0758
DOI:10.1080/01913120309925