Is giant cell interstitial pneumonia pathognomonic for hard metal lung diseases?-pathological and elemental analyses of 84 cases.

AIMS: Giant cell interstitial pneumonia (GIP) is a rare type of interstitial lung disease (ILD) caused by hard metal dust. However, instances of GIP without clear exposure to hard metals have been documented. This study aimed to determine whether or not GIP is pathognomonic for hard metal lung disease (HMLD) using an electron probe micro-analyser (EPMA).

METHODS AND

RESULTS

We evaluated 263 patients with ILD with occupational history from Jan 1993 to Aug 2023. Physicians sent us clinical information and tissue samples with pathological diagnoses to request elemental analyses of lung specimens. We prepared 3-μm-thick sections from paraffin-embedded tissues for pathological examination and elemental analysis using EPMA. After identifying centrilobular fibrosis in the pathology reports, we collected X-ray data with EPMA. Out of the 263 patients, 84 were suspected of having HML; 56 exhibited a GIP pattern, and 28 displayed various other ILD forms. Among the 28 non-GIP cases, 19 were diagnosed with HMLD upon detection of tungsten (W). Furthermore, W was found in lung specimens from 40 of the 56 GIP patients, confirming HMLD. Three of the 56 GIP patients had only cobalt (Co) detected, with no W detected. Thirteen patients with pathological GIP showed elements like Si, Al, iron, magnesium, and others in their specimens but no W or Co.

CONCLUSION

Among the 59 HMLD cases, only 40 had GIP. In 16 of the 56 GIP cases, W was not detecte; only Co was found in three cases (5.3%), and neither W nor Co was detected in 13 patients (23.2%). These findings suggest that GIP is not pathognomonic for HMLD.