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Michael Huncharek, MPH
Boston University School of Medicine

JAMA. 1988;259(4):520.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—In a recent report, Sichletidis et al¹ report a case of mesothelioma in a woman from an area of Greece where pleural calcification was endemic. Although this report presents an intriguing problem, additional information such as personal and family occupational history would have been helpful, since in any case of mesothelioma sources of possible asbestos exposure should be investigated thoroughly. This is because contact with asbestos often goes unrecognized in a variety of occupational and nonoccupational settings.

For instance, a series of recent studies from Italy^2,3 reveals the existence of an asbestos hazard among nonasbestos-textile workers. The first of these studies, by Paci et al,² reviewed histological specimens from patients with suspected malignant mesothelioma diagnosed between 1979 and 1984 in the Pathology Department of the University of Florence. Of 13 such patients identified, six worked in the textile industry as "rag sorters." None of . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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