Chest
Selected ReportsPulmonary Alveolar Microlithiasis with Pleural Calcification and Nephrolithiasis
Section snippets
Case Report
A 32-year-old woman with recurrent nonradiating colicky pain in the right loin area was found to have a right renal calculus for which surgery was advised. A chest x-ray film done as part of a preanesthetic check was found to be abnormal for which she was referred to this Institute for evaluation. The patient did not have any respiratory symptoms. She had never worked outside her house, denied exposure to any kind of dust, and did not use snuff. There was no history suggestive of tuberculosis
Discussion
Standard textbooks do not make any mention of pleural involvement in PAM.4,9,10 Necropsy reports,6,11 too, have not revealed pleural calcification in this condition. In most reported cases, the disease-free pleura is highlighted as a black line around the lungs and under the ribs due to dense pulmonary opacities on one side and the ribs on the other.12 However, review of literature disclosed that sharp, white lines along the periphery of the lungs, akin to those seen in our patient, have been
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Cited by (0)
Assistant Professor of Medicine in Residence.
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine.
Professor of Medicine.
Supported by HL-17731, HL-01310, & SCOR grant HL-23584-7, from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Manuscript received September 5; revision accepted December 18.