Clinical Presentation of Asbestosis with Intractable Pleural Pain in the Adult Child of a Taconite Miner and Radiographic Demonstration of the Probable Pathology Causing the Pain

Abstract Taconite, although not classified by the United States Government as asbestos or asbestiform material, has been associated with asbestos-related diseases. The mineral is used in the production of steel and as a road-patch material and is mined in Michigan and Minnesota. This report describes the case of a middle-aged Caucasian woman with exposure to taconite mining dust from her miner father's clothing in childhood with a resultant presentation consistent with asbestosis and intractable pleural pain. Intractable pleural pain has been described in asbestos-exposed patients with theorized etiologies. However, no in vivo reported mechanism has demonstrated a plausible, anatomically apparent mechanism for the pain. We utilize an application of the Vitrea® software for enhancement of high-resolution computerized tomography which demonstrates at least one likely mechanism for intractable pleural pain.