Pleural effusion in silicosis: A rare case report

Abstract

Silicosis is a diffuse pulmonary interstitial disease characterized by a fibrotic response in lung parenchyma caused by continual inhalation of crystalline silica (SiO2). Pleural effusion is an extremely rare presentation of silicosis. To the best of our knowledge, there have been only few cases of silicosis with pleural effusion reported in medical literature. Herein, we describe a case of a 60-year-old male, who presented with shortness of breath for 5 years. He was a nonsmoker. He had a history of exposure to mineral dusts for 25 years. Chest X-ray showed left-sided pleural effusion and bilateral reticulonodular opacities. High-resolution computed tomography thorax showed the presence of bilateral pleural effusion (left >right) with left-sided pleural thickening, bilateral septal thickening, and bilateral randomly distributed nodules, and also bilateral segmental consolidation with air bronchogram. The patient had undergone extensive workup and was diagnosed with silicosis.

Keywords

• Pleural effusion
• pneumoconiosis
• silicosis