The Link Between Pleural Plaques and Mesothelioma
Fibrous thickening of the lung lining known as pleural plaques are a good indicator of asbestos exposure but they don’t necessarily mean that a person will development mesothelioma. That is the finding of a risk analysis released by a Princeton, New Jersey-based consulting firm. The firm studied the medical literature on pleural plaques to better understand the relationship between this common asbestos exposure side effect and the development of mesothelioma, the most deadly disease associated with asbestos. Pleural plaques typically develop two or three decades after asbestos exposure. They can grow on either the outer (parietal) pleura or the inner (visceral) pleura. While they can make breathing uncomfortable as they calcify over time, pleural plaques are not cancerous and have…