Rapidly progressive silicosis: clinical observations

Diseases arising from exposure to industrial aerosols remain an urgent problem and occupy a leading position among all occupational diseases.

Scientists present clinical observations demonstrating the development of pneumoconiosis with a relatively short work experience in contact with fibrogenic dust slightly exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations. The rapidly progressing course is characterized by the development of the disease by the type of complicated pneumoconiosis with the formation of nodular fibrosis or an increase in profusion (severity) by more than one subcategory for five years. As a rule, it develops after ten or less years of work experience in contact with high concentrations of quartz dust.

Researchers have considered the features of the occurrence and course of silicosis in persons in contact with industrial aerosols with a high mass fraction of silicon dioxide in production conditions.We have analyzed the situations demonstrating the development of pneumoconiosis with a professional experience of less than five years in persons who come into contact with industrial aerosol in low excess of the maximum permissible concentration of quartz dust, but with a very high mass fraction of silicon dioxide.

An important condition in the prevention of pneumoconiosis should be mandatory periodic medical examinations with digital radiography of the lungs in two projections. 

The authors recommend performing computed tomography (CT) of the chest to persons working in contact with fibrogenic dust with a frequency of once every five years due to the fact that CT has a higher sensitivity and specificity for detecting reticular and focal seals in the lungs, as well as initial changes in the pleura.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with ethical principles and with the voluntary informed consent of the participants.

Contribution:
Strizhakov L.A. — concept and design of the study, writing the text, editing;
Garipova R.V. — concept and design of the study, data collection and processing, writing the text;
Babanov S.A. — concept and design of the study, writing the text, editing;
Gulyaev S.V. — data collection and processing;
Berheeva Z.M. — concept and design of the study, data collection and processing;
Lavrentieva N.E. — writing the text, editing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 25.01.2023 / Accepted: 27.01.2023 / Published: 20.03.2023

1. Occupational respiratory diseases. National guidelines. Eds. Izmerov N.F., Chuchalin A.G. Moscow: Geotar-media; 2015 (in Russian).

2. Velichkovsky B.T., Katsnelson B.A. Etiology and pathogenesis of silicosis. Moscow: Meditsina; 1964 (in Russian).

3. Babanov S.A., Strizhakov L.A., Lebedeva M.V., Fomin V.V., Budash D.S., Baykova A.G. Pneumoconioses: modern views. Terapevticheskii arkhiv. 2019; 91(3): 107–13. https://doi.org/10.26442/00403660.2019.03.000066

4. Occupational diseases. Edited by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.A. Mukhin, Professor S.A. Babanov. Moscow: «GEOTAR-media»; 2018.

5. Grubstein A., Shtraichman O., Fireman E., Bachar G.N., Noach-Ophir N., Kramer M.R. Radiological Evaluation of Artificial Stone Silicosis Outbreak: Emphasizing Findings in Lung Transplant Recipients. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2016; 40(6): 923–7. https://doi.org/10.1097/RCT.0000000000000454

6. Carrieri M., Guzzardo C., Farcas D., Cena L.G. Characterization of Silica Exposure during Manufacturing of Artificial Stone Countertops. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(12): 4489. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124489

7. Shtraichman O., Blanc P.D., Ollech J.E., et al. Outbreak of autoimmune disease in silicosis linked to artificial stone. Occup Med (Lond). 2015; 65(6): 444–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqv073

8. Leso V., Fontana L., Romano R., Gervetti P., Iavicoli I. Artificial Stone Associated Silicosis: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019; 16(4): 568. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040568

9. Khalimov Yu.Sh., Tsepkova G.A., Vlasenko A.N., Shilov V.V., Andreenko O.N. Late silicosis is a rare form of pneumoconiosis. Vestnik Rossijskoj Voenno-medicinskoj akademii. 2020; 2(70): 74–8 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040568

10. Barnes H., Goh N.S.L., Leong T.L., Hoy R. Silica-associated lung disease: An old-world exposure in modern industries. Respirology. 2019; 24(12): 1165–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/resp.13695

11. Gorblyansky Yu.Yu., Piktushanskaya T.E., Panova M.A., Kontorovich E.P., Ponomareva O.P. The burden of occupational respiratory diseases. Med. truda i prom. ekol. 2021; 61(4): 243–52 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.31089/1026-9428-2021-61-4-243-252

12. Bukhtiyarov I.V., Orlova G.P., Andrienko O.N., Zemlyakova S.S. Epidemiology of occupational interstitial lung diseases in Russia. Med. truda i prom. ekol. 2022; 62(7): 430–6 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.31089/1026-9428-2022-62-7-430-436

13. De Matteis S., Heederik D., Burdorf A., Colosio C., Cullinan P., Henneberger P.K. et al. Current and new challenges in occupational lung diseases. Eur Respir Rev. 2017; 26(146): 170080. https://doi.org/10.1183/16000617.0080-2017

14. Plyukhin A.E., Burmistrova T.B., Postnikova L.V., Kovaleva A.S. Pneumoconiosis in the conditions of modern industrial production. Med. truda i prom. ekol. 2013; 7: 22–7 (in Russian).

15. Hoy R.F., Baird T., Hammerschlag G., Hart D., Johnson A.R., King P. et al. Artificial stone-associated silicosis: a rapidly emerging occupational lung disease. Occup Environ Med. 2018; 75(1): 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2017-104428

16. Requena-Mullor M., Alarcón-Rodríguez R., Parrón-Carreño T., Martínez-López J.J., Lozano-Paniagua D., Hernández A.F. Association between Crystalline Silica Dust Exposure and Silicosis Development in Artificial Stone Workers. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(11): 5625. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115625

17. Hoy R.F. Artificial stone silicosis. Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology. 2021; 21(2): 114–120. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACI.0000000000000715

18. Dal M., Malak A.T. Effects of SiO2 in Turkish natural stones on cancer development. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2012; 13(10): 4883–8. https://doi.org/10.7314/apjcp.2012.13.10.4883

19. Ryan F. Hoy, Mohamed F. Jeebhay, Catherine Cavalin, Weihong Chen, Robert A. Cohen, Elizabeth Firemanet al. Current global perspectives on silicosis — Convergence of old and newly emergent hazards. Respirology. 2022; 27(6): 387–98. https://doi.org/10.1111/resp.14242

20. Hoy R.F., Glass D.C., Dimitriadis C., Hansen J., Hore-Lacy F., Sim M.R. Identification of early-stage silicosis through health screening of stone benchtop industry workers in Victoria, Australia. Occup Environ Med. 2021; 78(4): 296–302. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2020-106897