[Anatomopathologic study of 54 cases of diffuse pleural mesothelioma found in the harbor regions of Nantes, Saint-Nazaire and Lorient].

The study concerned the macroscopic and microscopic examination of 54 cases of diffuse malignant mesothelioma. Four points were felt to be of interest and worthy of emphasis: --the unilateral nature of the lesions, constant in this series; --the absence of involvement of other serous surfaces; --the tumour-like appearance of the disorder in 2/3 of cases and the appearance of a simple pachy-pleuritis in 1/3; --from a histological standpoint, despite the morphological flexibility of the classically accepted mesothelial cells, the homogenicity of our group, in which tumour morphology was much more epithelial than histiocytic or connective.