Mesothelioma cancer is a type of cancer that does not come alone. It usually develops several side effects under the form of minor disorders and conditions that he medical community associates with asbestos damage. As a result of asbestos exposure diffuse scaring is caused and pleural thickening appears as one of the most common side effects.
Types of pleural thickening
Depending on the type of development of the pleural thickening, and the region it has spread to, doctors have been to distinguish the following types of pleural thickening:
- Diffuse pleural thickening
- Bilateral pleural thickening
- Apical pleural thickening
- Focal pleural thickening
- Biapical pleural thickening
- Chronic pleural thickening
- Nodular pleural thickening
These are all the types of pleural thickening that doctors have detected until now. Further types have been discovered but doctors have not established it really is pleural thickening.
Apical pleural thickening
The form and distribution of pleural thickening make a distinction between its benign and malignant causes. When pleural thickening is located in the apex of the lung, it forms a curved radiographic opacity, named the apical cap. This is abnormal when it is thicker than 1 cm and when its shape is ill-defined or irregular at its lower border, at the meeting point with the normal part of the lung.
Biapical pleural thickening
Biapical pleural thickening refers to both lung's apices being affected by pleural thickening. This means that the pleura lining gets thicker in both lungs, as there is a fluid acumulation (pleural effusion) in the apices, creating breathing difficulties.
What exactly is pleural thickening?
Pleural thickening is the hardening of the pleura. The pleura should otherwise be very flexible and allow the lungs to expand and contact freely. The cause of pleural thickening is the tiny asbestos fibers that create scar tissue in the pleura.
Pleural thickening can only be treated with the use of surgical procedures. Patients need to be able to breathe freely, and the only to allow them to do that is to eliminate some of the pleura or treat it with certain directly, which should help in curing the scars.
Pleural thickening can also appear when the patient is suffering from asbestosis. It doesn’t matter whether the person is suffering from mesothelioma or asbestosis; pleural thickening is diagnosed with the help of radiography.
Pleural thickening causes itself a series of quite serious conditions, such as chronic cough and shortness of breath. These can be treated with certain drugs, but only of they aren’t caused by pleural thickening. If they are, the treatment methods include more drastic measures. The good news is that pleural thickening can be treated during surgical procedures that are performed to extract cancerous tissue, and allows the patient to recover rapidly from the surgery. This condition is pretty common with mesothelioma and asbestosis patients, but it is curable.
Do you require more information about biapical pleural thickening? Are you already suffering from this condition and would like to know how it can be treated? Do not hesitate to contact asbestosis and mesothelioma centers and receive all the information you require, absolutely free.