Reply to: 'Pleural abnormalities in the Framingham Heart Study: prevalence and CT image features by' Araki et al

We appreciate the comments by Franzblau et al1 on our recent article ‘Pleural abnormalities in the Framingham Heart Study: prevalence and CT image features’.2 Our study described CT image findings of pleural abnormalities including pleural plaques and pleural thickening in the Framingham Heart Study. The prevalence of pleural abnormalities in the cohort was 1.5%, which could be an important index of asbestos exposure in the general population. We used strict criteria for diagnosing pleural abnormalities. CT images were evaluated by several radiologists using sequential reading method,3 and all the cases diagnosed as pleural abnormalities are confirmed by at least two readers. Equivocal findings are classified as ‘minor pleural changes’, which was not reflected in the results of prevalence.

We agree that a direct comparison of our results with National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) II2 4 has limitations and should be interpreted...

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