A case of acute cadmium pneumonitis: lung function tests during a four-year follow-up

Experimental animals which survive the acute pneumonitis that follows the inhalation of cadmium fume develop a perivascular and peribronchial fibrosis. Such fibrosis has not yet been described in man. When a severe case of acute cadmium pneumonitis occurred in a welder, lung function tests were performed and chest radiographs were taken during the subsequent four years in order to observe whether changes signifying the onset of pulmonary fibrosis would develop. The patient's lung function improved for six months after the accident, and during the subsequent three years there has been no deterioration.