Abstract
In a pilot study the chest radiographic appearances of 112 coalminers who developed progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) over an 11 year period have been classified into six types based on the appearances of the large radiographic opacities. The most common type of PMF was one or more large shadows of homogeneous radiodensity. Less common types included markedly rounded shadows usually less than 3 cm in diameter, non-homogeneous shadows appearing to consist of conglomerations of small rounded opacities, and condensations of linear or streaky shadows. Good reproducibility by one reader between two readings were obtained. The lifetime exposures to mixed respirable coal mine dust, and to its quartz component, of these 112 men were compared with those of control subjects matched for age and starting category of simple pneumoconiosis but without PMF. Overall, the men with PMF had been exposed to more mixed dust than controls, confirming that one of the reasons some men with simple pneumoconiosis develop PMF is that they have inhaled more dust than others. Eleven of the 112 cases had large opacities that were not homogeneous and appeared to consist of conglomerations of "r" type small rounded opacities. The average quartz exposures of these men were much higher than in control subjects, suggesting that in this type of PMF quartz was an important causative factor.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- CAPLAN A. Certain unusual radiological appearances in the chest of coal-miners suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Thorax. 1953 Mar;8(1):29–37. doi: 10.1136/thx.8.1.29. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- COCHRANE A. L. The attack rate of progressive massive fibrosis. Br J Ind Med. 1962 Jan;19:52–64. doi: 10.1136/oem.19.1.52. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Copland L., Burns J., Jacobsen M. Classification of chest radiographs for epidemiological purposes by people not experienced in the radiology of pneumoconiosis. Br J Ind Med. 1981 Aug;38(3):254–261. doi: 10.1136/oem.38.3.254. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dodgson J., Hadden G. G., Jones C. O., Walton W. H. Characteristics of the airborne dust in British coal mines. Inhaled Part. 1970;2:757–782. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FAULDS J. S., KING E. J., NAGELSCHMIDT G. The dust content of the lungs of coal workers from Cumberland. Br J Ind Med. 1959 Jan;16(1):43–50. doi: 10.1136/oem.16.1.43. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hurley J. F., Burns J., Copland L., Dodgson J., Jacobsen M. Coalworkers' simple pneumoconiosis and exposure to dust at 10 British coalmines. Br J Ind Med. 1982 May;39(2):120–127. doi: 10.1136/oem.39.2.120. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jacobsen M., Burns J., Attfield M. D. Smoking and coalworkers' simple pneumoconiosis. Inhaled Part. 1975 Sep;4(Pt 2):759–772. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jacobsen M., Maclaren W. M. Unusual pulmonary observations and exposure to coal mine dust: a case-control study. Ann Occup Hyg. 1982;26(1-4):753–765. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- KING E. J., MAGUIRE B. A., NAGELSCHMIDT G. Further studies of the dust in lungs of coal-miners. Br J Ind Med. 1956 Jan;13(1):9–23. doi: 10.1136/oem.13.1.9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McLintock J. S., Rae S., Jacobsen M. The attack rate of progressive massive fibrosis in British coalminers. Inhaled Part. 1970;2:933–952. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SPINK R., NAGELSCHMIDT G. Dust and fibrosis in the lungs of coal-workers from the Wigan area of Lancashire. Br J Ind Med. 1963 Apr;20:118–123. doi: 10.1136/oem.20.2.118. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Walton W. H., Dodgson J., Hadden G. G., Jacobsen M. The effect of quartz and other non-coal dusts in coalworkers' pneumoconiosis. Part I: Epidemiological studies. Inhaled Part. 1975 Sep;4(Pt 2):669–690. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]