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Case Reports
. 2011 Sep 19:2011:bcr0820114597.
doi: 10.1136/bcr.08.2011.4597.

Pulmonary talcosis 10 years after brief teenage exposure to cosmetic talcum powder

Amarah Shakoor  1 , Arsalan Rahatullah, Adil Aijaz Shah, Ali Bin Sarwar Zubairi
Affiliations
Case Reports

Pulmonary talcosis 10 years after brief teenage exposure to cosmetic talcum powder

Amarah Shakoor et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Pulmonary talcosis is a rare but debilitating variant of pneumoconiosis often presenting with isolated non-specific symptoms of progressive exertional dyspnoea or cough. Occupational exposure to talc dust and intravenous drug abuse are well-recognised aetiological factors with only a few cases related to cosmetic talc exposure being reported to date. The authors report a case of a young woman in whom a mere 4 month ritual of inhaling cosmetic talcum powder led to full-blown pulmonary talcosis being diagnosed 10 years later. The importance of a taking a pertinent history relating to environmental exposures in all patients presenting with respiratory symptoms is re-established here.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bilateral infiltrates with nodular opacities throughout both lungs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diffuse micronodular pattern with well-defined centrilobular nodules and diffuse ground-glass opacities.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Perivascular and peribronchial fibroses with non-caseating foreign body granulomas are present within the fibrotic areas and in the alveolar septa.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Numerous bi-fringent needle-shaped crystals inside and outside macrophages being visualised under polarised light.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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