Abstract
We present a case of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis accompanied by radiographic evidence of progressive massive fibrosis in a patient who had a 15–20 year history of almost daily recreational inhalation of methamphetamine. Mineralogical analysis confirmed the presence of talc on biopsy of the area of progressive massive fibrosis. The coexistence of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and progressive massive fibrosis suggests that prolonged recreational inhalation of methamphetamine that has been “cut” with talc can result in sufficient amount of talc being inhaled to result in interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and progressive massive fibrosis in the absence of other causes.
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Peter A Baylor MD, Veterans Administration Central California Health Care System, 2615 East Clinton Avenue, Fresno CA 93703. E-mail: Peter.Baylor{at}va.gov.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Val Vallyathan PhD who died in July 2010.
The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Veterans Administration or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Dr Baylor presented a version of this paper at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society, held May 14–19, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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