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Links Chronic berylliosis (Contributed by...
Monday 11 February 2013
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Chronic berylliosis (Contributed by Philip Kane, MD) (Yale Rosen Collection)
Microscopy
The microscopic features of chronic beryllium disease closely resemble those of sarcoiodosis. Peribronchial non-necrotizing granulomas are present.
There is nothing distinctive about the appearance of these granulomas that would enable one to make a diagnosis of beryllium disease with an occupational history and beryllium lymphocyte proliferation testing.
There is chronic interstitial inflammation and aggregates of inclusion-containing giant cells.
The unusual inclusions seen in these giant cells appear to be cholesterol crystals with a peripheral rim of calcification.
Cholesterol crystals can apparently serve as a nidus for calcification just as calcium carbonate crystals can serve as a nidus for the formation of calcific Schaumann (conchoidal) bodies.
