Two cases of hard metal lung disease showing gradual improvement in pulmonary function after avoiding dust exposure

Abstract

We present herein two cases of hard metal lung disease (HMLD) with distinct pathological findings. Both cases showed gradual improvements in pulmonary function over a period of a few years (Case 1: 30 months; Case 2: 12 months) after the avoidance of dust exposure, while improvements on high-resolution computed tomography were modest. The increased lymphocytes and decreased CD4/CD8 ratio in BALF observed at initial diagnosis normalized after the avoidance of dust exposure in one case. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating continual follow-up of pulmonary function and radiographic findings, and a comparison of BALF findings before and after avoidance of hard metal dust exposure.