Acute silicoproteinosis.

A case of alveolar lipoproteinosis associated with silicosis is reported. A 58-year-old man had been exposed to silica for seven years and died three years after the onset of symptoms. Light microscopy of biopsy and necropsy material showed small silicotic nodules, silica particles, and alveolar lipoproteinosis, and ultrastructural studies were performed to define changes in alveolar epithelium and macrophages. The case provides a further example of alveolar lipoproteinosis developing as a response of the lung to injury by an external agent.