Tan Han Loong, Faisal Mohamed, Soo Chun Ian, Ban Andrea Y L, Manap Roslina Abdul, Hassan Tidi M
Respiratory Unit, Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
BMC Pulm Med. 2016 Sep 7;16(1):131. doi: 10.1186/s12890-016-0293-2.
Dental laboratory technicians are at risk of developing occupational respiratory diseases due to exposure to various potentially toxic substances in their working environment. Since 1939, few cases of silicosis among dental technician have been reported.
We illustrate a 38 year-old female, who worked in a dental laboratory for 20 years, initially treated as pulmonary tuberculosis and chronic necrotising aspergillosis without much improvement. Computed tomography guided lung biopsy and bronchoscopic transbronchial lung biopsy were performed. Lung tissue biopsies showed presence of refractile dental materials within the areas of histiocyte proliferation. The diagnosis of dental technician pneumoconiosis was obtained and our patient underwent pulmonary rehabilitation.
This case highlights the importance of obtaining a detailed occupational history in tuberculosis endemic area, as pulmonary tuberculosis is a great mimicker of other respiratory diseases.
牙科实验室技术人员因其工作环境中接触各种潜在有毒物质而有患职业性呼吸道疾病的风险。自1939年以来，牙科技术人员中矽肺病的病例报告较少。
我们展示了一名38岁女性，她在牙科实验室工作了20年，最初被诊断为肺结核和慢性坏死性曲霉病，但治疗后改善不大。进行了计算机断层扫描引导下的肺活检和支气管镜经支气管肺活检。肺组织活检显示在组织细胞增殖区域内存在可折射的牙科材料。最终确诊为牙科技术人员尘肺病，患者接受了肺康复治疗。
该病例强调了在结核病流行地区获取详细职业史的重要性，因为肺结核很容易被误诊为其他呼吸道疾病。
