Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Industrial Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Industrial Medicine
. 1959 Apr;16(2):153–165. doi: 10.1136/oem.16.2.153

The Mechanical Properties of the Lung in Pneumoconiosis of Coal-miners*

G L Leathart 1
PMCID: PMC1037907  PMID: 13651559

Abstract

To assess changes in the mechanical properties of the lungs in pneumoconiosis, the “elastance” (coefficient of elastic resistance, the reciprocal of compliance) of the lung and resistance of the airways were measured by the method of Mead and Whittenberger (1953) in 97 coal-miners and 17 men who had never worked underground. Ages ranged from 24 to 57. The work done on the lung was measured in 66 of these subjects, and the maximum voluntary ventilation (M.V.V.) was measured in all. The subjects were obtained by random selection from hospital out-patients and by random selection from a radiological survey of over 5,000 coal-miners. The M.V.V. was reduced in coal-miners with progressive massive fibrosis (P.M.F.), and in those without pneumoconiosis, but was not significantly reduced in simple pneumoconiosis. Elastance of the lung was unaltered in young miners but was slightly, and significantly, increased in all elderly faceworkers whatever the radiological category. This change appeared to be due to long years of work underground rather than to the radiological abnormality of pneumoconiosis. This slight change in the pulmonary elastance cannot be the cause of the reduction in M.V.V., since the two are unrelated. Inspiratory resistance was normal in all coal-miners, suggesting that pneumoconiosis is not associated with any fixed distortion of the airways. The non-elastic work of breathing, however, was frequently above normal and this suggests that bronchial obstruction develops rather commonly during expiration. This change appears to be the cause of reduction of M.V.V. in the majority of cases, as a negative correlation between M.V.V. and non-elastic work was established. Mean non-elastic work was not, however, unduly high in those radiological groups in which a significant reduction of M.V.V. was recorded. It is suggested that this discrepancy may be due to excessive frictional resistance in the chest wall of miners with P.M.F. and those with no radiological abnormality. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that emphysema is abnormally common in elderly coal-miners, and that it, rather than pneumoconiosis, is the cause of their reduced ventilatory ability.

Full text

PDF
155

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ATTINGER E. O., GOLDSTEIN M. M., SEGAL M. S. Ventilation in chronic pulmonary emphysema. I. Pressure-volume and pressure-flow relationships. Am Rev Tuberc. 1956 Aug;74(2 Pt 1):210–219. doi: 10.1164/artpd.1956.74.2-1.210. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BONDURANT S., HICKAM J. B., ISLEY J. K. Pulmonary and circulatory effects of acute pulmonary vascular engorgement in normal subjects. J Clin Invest. 1957 Jan;36(1 Pt 1):59–66. doi: 10.1172/JCI103410. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BUTLER J., WHITE H. C., ARNOTT W. M. The pulmonary compliance in normal subjects. Clin Sci. 1957 Nov;16(4):709–729. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. CARPENTER R. G., COCHRANE A. L., GILSON J. C., HIGGINS I. T. The relationship between ventilatory capacity and simple pneumoconiosis in coalworkers; the effect of population selection. Br J Ind Med. 1956 Jul;13(3):166–176. doi: 10.1136/oem.13.3.166. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. CHERNIACK R. M. The physical properties of the lung in chronic obstructive pulmonary emphysema. J Clin Invest. 1956 Apr;35(4):394–404. doi: 10.1172/JCI103290. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. COCHRANE A. L., GILSON J. C., HIGGINS I. T., OLDHAM P. D. Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary disability in an industrial town; survey of a random sample of the population. Br Med J. 1956 Oct 20;2(4998):904–910. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.4998.904. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. DAYMAN H. Mechanics of airflow in health and in emphysema. J Clin Invest. 1951 Nov;30(11):1175–1190. doi: 10.1172/JCI102537. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. DORNHORST A. C., SEMPLE S. J. G., YOUNG I. M. Automatic fractional analysis of expired air as a clinical test. Lancet. 1953 Feb 21;1(6756):370–372. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(53)91043-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. FLETCHER C. M. The clinical diagnosis of pulmonary emphysema; an experimental study. Proc R Soc Med. 1952 Sep;45(9):577–584. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. FRANK N. R., MEAD J., SIEBENS A. A., STOREY C. F. Measurements of pulmonary compliance in seventy healthy young adults. J Appl Physiol. 1956 Jul;9(1):38–42. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1956.9.1.38. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. GANDEVIA B. H., PRIME F. J. The influence of bronchodilator drugs on the pressure-volume relationships of forced expiration. Thorax. 1957 Dec;12(4):358–360. doi: 10.1136/thx.12.4.358. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. KENNEDY M. C. S. A practical measure of the maximum ventilatory capacity in health and disease. Thorax. 1953 Mar;8(1):73–83. doi: 10.1136/thx.8.1.73. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. MCCALLUM R. I., BROWNE R. C. Coal miners' pneumoconiosis in four collieries in county Durham. Br J Ind Med. 1955 Oct;12(4):279–289. doi: 10.1136/oem.12.4.279. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. MEAD J., LINDGREN I., GAENSLER E. A. The mechanical properties of the lungs in emphysema. J Clin Invest. 1955 Jul;34(7 Pt 1):1005–1016. doi: 10.1172/JCI103150. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. McILROY M. B., MARSHALL R., CHRISTIE R. V. The work of breathing in normal subjects. Clin Sci. 1954 Feb;13(1):127–136. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. NEEDHAM C. D., ROGAN M. C., McDONALD I. Normal standards for lung volumes, intrapulmonary gas-mixing, and maximum breathing capacity. Thorax. 1954 Dec;9(4):313–325. doi: 10.1136/thx.9.4.313. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. OTIS A. B., FENN W. O., RAHN H. Mechanics of breathing in man. J Appl Physiol. 1950 May;2(11):592–607. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1950.2.11.592. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. STEAD W. W., FRY D. L., EBERT R. V. The elastic properties of the lung in normal men and in patients with chronic pulmonary emphysema. J Lab Clin Med. 1952 Nov;40(5):674–681. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Industrial Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES