A stone miner with both silicosis and constrictive pericarditis: case report and review of the literature

摘要

BackgroundThe working environment of stone miners has been believed to cause their susceptibility to respiratory diseases. Silicosis is an occupational disease caused by exposure to crystalline silica dust which is marked by inflammation and scarring in the lung. The immune system boosted after the silica invasion led to self-damage and lay the foundation of silicosis pathogenesis. Silicosis coexisting with other diseases in one patient has been reported, however, was not reported to coexist with constrictive pericarditis. We, for the first time, reported a patient with silicosis and constrictive pericarditis and thought the immune response was probably the link between the two.