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Environmental Health Perspectives Aug 2000Exposure to coal mine dust and/or crystalline silica results in pneumoconiosis with initiation and progression of pulmonary fibrosis. This review presents... (Review)
Review
Exposure to coal mine dust and/or crystalline silica results in pneumoconiosis with initiation and progression of pulmonary fibrosis. This review presents characteristics of simple and complicated coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) as well as pathologic indices of acute and chronic silicosis by summarizing results of in vitro, animal, and human investigations. These results support four basic mechanisms in the etiology of CWP and silicosis: a) direct cytotoxicity of coal dust or silica, resulting in lung cell damage, release of lipases and proteases, and eventual lung scarring; b) activation of oxidant production by pulmonary phagocytes, which overwhelms the antioxidant defenses and leads to lipid peroxidation, protein nitrosation, cell injury, and lung scarring; c) activation of mediator release from alveolar macrophages and epithelial cells, which leads to recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and macrophages, resulting in the production of proinflammatory cytokines and reactive species and in further lung injury and scarring; d) secretion of growth factors from alveolar macrophages and epithelial cells, stimulating fibroblast proliferation and eventual scarring. Results of in vitro and animal studies provide a basis for proposing these mechanisms for the initiation and progression of pneumoconiosis. Data obtained from exposed workers lend support to these mechanisms.
Topics: Air Pollutants, Occupational; Coal; Humans; Mining; Pneumoconiosis; Silicosis
PubMed: 10931786
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.00108s4675 -
Postgraduate Medical Journal Aug 1997
Topics: Adult; Humans; Male; Pneumoconiosis; Silicosis; Talc; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
PubMed: 9307748
DOI: 10.1136/pgmj.73.862.513 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Jul 1992The only workers presently exposed to bagasse dust in Japan are the employees of sugar refineries and lacquerware factories. A follow up study of six former cases of...
The only workers presently exposed to bagasse dust in Japan are the employees of sugar refineries and lacquerware factories. A follow up study of six former cases of bagassosis from among the retired employees of a paper board factory, closed since 1973, showed that none of the subjects still had bagassosis. Examinations of 70 employees of a sugar refinery for allergic reactions also showed no case of bagassosis. Seven cases with suspicious shadows of bagassosis on chest radiographs and four cases with positive serum precipitin to stored bagasse were, however, found among those 70 subjects. The results show the disappearance of a past episode of bagassosis and the possibility of a new occurrence of bagassosis among the employees of sugar refineries and lacquerware factories in the near future in Japan.
Topics: Adult; Disease Outbreaks; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Japan; Lung; Male; Middle Aged; Pneumoconiosis; Radiography; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Sucrose
PubMed: 1637710
DOI: 10.1136/oem.49.7.499 -
Biomedical and Environmental Sciences :... Jan 2021
Review
Topics: Animals; Disease Susceptibility; Gene Expression Profiling; Genomics; Humans; Metabolomics; Pneumoconiosis; Proteomics; RNA
PubMed: 33531110
DOI: 10.3967/bes2021.010 -
International Journal of Environmental... May 2022Computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) systems can assist radiologists in detecting coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in their chest X-rays. Early diagnosis of the CWP can... (Review)
Review
Computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) systems can assist radiologists in detecting coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in their chest X-rays. Early diagnosis of the CWP can significantly improve workers' survival rate. The development of the CAD systems will reduce risk in the workplace and improve the quality of chest screening for CWP diseases. This systematic literature review (SLR) amis to categorise and summarise the feature extraction and detection approaches of computer-based analysis in CWP using chest X-ray radiographs (CXR). We conducted the SLR method through 11 databases that focus on science, engineering, medicine, health, and clinical studies. The proposed SLR identified and compared 40 articles from the last 5 decades, covering three main categories of computer-based CWP detection: classical handcrafted features-based image analysis, traditional machine learning, and deep learning-based methods. Limitations of this review and future improvement of the review are also discussed.
Topics: Anthracosis; Coal; Coal Mining; Computers; Humans; Machine Learning; Pneumoconiosis; X-Rays
PubMed: 35682023
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19116439 -
BMC Pulmonary Medicine Apr 2022Although several histological studies have documented airway inflammation and remodelling in the small airways of dust-exposed workers, little is known regarding the...
BACKGROUND
Although several histological studies have documented airway inflammation and remodelling in the small airways of dust-exposed workers, little is known regarding the prevalence and risk factors of small airway dysfunction (SAD) in pneumoconiosis. The present study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of spirometry-defined SAD in pneumoconiosis and assessed the risk factors for associated with SAD.
METHODS
A total of 1255 patients with pneumoconiosis were invited to participate, of whom 1115 patients were eligible for final analysis. Spirometry was performed to assess SAD using the following three indicators: maximal mid-expiratory flow and forced expiratory flow 50% and 75%. SAD was defined as at least two of these three indicators being less than 65% of predicted value. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyse the relationships between clinical variables and SAD.
RESULTS
Overall, 66.3% of patients with pneumoconiosis had SAD, among never-smokers the prevalence of SAD was 66.7%. The proportion of SAD did not differ among the subtypes of pneumoconiosis. In addition, SAD was present across the patients with all stages of pneumoconiosis. Even among those with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV) ≥ 80% and FEV/forced vital capacity ratio ≥ 70%, 40.8% of patients had SAD. Patients with SAD were older than patients without SAD, more likely to be women and heavy smokers. Importantly, patients with SAD had more severe airflow obstruction, air trapping, and diffusion dysfunction. All patients with both pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had SAD. Based on multivariate analysis, overall, aged 40 years and older, female sex, heavy smoking, body mass index ≥ 25.0 kg/m and pneumoconiosis stage III were significantly associated with increased risk of SAD. Among the never smokers, risk factors for SAD included female sex, BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m, pneumoconiosis stage II and stage III CONCLUSION: Spirometry-defined SAD is one of the common functional abnormalities caused by occupational dust exposure and should be taken into account when monitoring respiratory health of workers to guide the early precautions and management in pneumoconiosis.
Topics: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dust; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Lung; Male; Middle Aged; Pneumoconiosis
PubMed: 35484546
DOI: 10.1186/s12890-022-01929-9 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Apr 1972178-183. In this survey, which is the first of its kind in the graphite industry, 344 workers in a large mine in Ceylon were investigated for pulmonary lesions; 22·7%...
178-183. In this survey, which is the first of its kind in the graphite industry, 344 workers in a large mine in Ceylon were investigated for pulmonary lesions; 22·7% of them had radiographic abnormalities, which included small rounded and irregular opacities, large opacities, and significant enlargement of hilar shadows. They had worked considerably longer in the industry and were, on average, older than the rest. Only 19·2% of the affected workers had respiratory symptoms, of which dyspnoea and cough were the most frequent. Digital clubbing was seen in 21·9%. In an age and sex matched control group, comprising 327 persons from a neighbouring village, only 8 (2·4%) showed radiographic abnormalities. Graphite pneumoconiosis closely resembles coal miners' pneumoconiosis in many respects. It does not appear to be a pure silicosis, neither could it be considered a true carbon pneumoconiosis. It is likely that massive fibrosis is associated with tuberculous infection.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Carbon; Child; Cough; Dyspnea; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mining; Osteoarthropathy, Secondary Hypertrophic; Pneumoconiosis; Radiography; Sri Lanka; Time Factors; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary
PubMed: 5021997
DOI: 10.1136/oem.29.2.178 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Oct 1968Immunological investigations of 37 patients with bagassosis, 92 unaffected bagasse workers, and 150 non-exposed controls showed that precipitins against extracts of...
Immunological investigations of 37 patients with bagassosis, 92 unaffected bagasse workers, and 150 non-exposed controls showed that precipitins against extracts of bagasse could be demonstrated just as frequently in the unaffected and the non-exposed as in the affected. However, there was a general tendency for the precipitin levels of patients with bagassosis to fall slightly with increasing time after recovery from the clinical episode. The presence of the precipitins so far demonstrated in the sera of bagasse workers therefore appears to be of no clinical significance. Inhalation tests with an extract of bagasse, in a group of 16 patients who had had bagassosis, produced late, systemic reactions in 15 similar to those described in farmer's lung and bird fancier's lung, so supporting the hypothesis that a similar type of hypersensitivity is the cause of bagassosis. Inhalation of extracts of also produced typical, late reactions in 12 out of 15 subjects, whereas extracts of failed to produce reactions in any of 16 subjects. The specific reactions to inhalation tests with were typical of a precipitin-mediated type of hypersensitivity reaction and support the view that this actinomycete may be important in the aetiology of bagassosis.
Topics: Actinomycetales; Coffee; Humans; Immunodiffusion; Immunoelectrophoresis; Male; Occupational Diseases; Pneumoconiosis; Precipitins; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Spirometry; Time Factors
PubMed: 4972748
DOI: 10.1136/oem.25.4.283 -
Clinical Imaging May 2023The radiological patterns of known pneumoconiosis have been changing in recent years. The basic pathology in pneumoconiosis is the presence of dust macules, mixed dust... (Review)
Review
The radiological patterns of known pneumoconiosis have been changing in recent years. The basic pathology in pneumoconiosis is the presence of dust macules, mixed dust fibrosis, nodules, diffuse interstitial fibrosis, and progressive massive fibrosis. These pathologic changes can coexist in dust-exposed workers. High resolution CT reflects pathological findings in pneumoconiosis and is useful for the diagnosis. Pneumoconiosis such as silicosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, graphite pneumoconiosis, and welder's pneumoconiosis, has predominant nodular HRCT pattern. Diffuse interstitial pulmonary fibrosis is sometimes found in the lungs of this pneumoconiosis. In the early stages of metal lung, such as aluminosis and hard metal lung, centrilobular nodules are predominant findings, and in the advanced stages, reticular opacities are predominant findings. The clinician must understand the spectrum of expected imaging patterns related to known dust exposures and novel exposures. In this article, HRCT and pathologic findings of pneumoconiosis with predominant nodular opacities are shown.
Topics: Humans; Pneumoconiosis; Silicosis; Lung; Dust; Pulmonary Fibrosis
PubMed: 36878176
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2023.02.010 -
Respiration; International Review of... 2012
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Pneumoconiosis; Population Surveillance
PubMed: 22699266
DOI: 10.1159/000339419