Comparison of radiographic appearances with associated pathology and lung dust content in a group of coalworkers.

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Abstract
The patholgoy and dust content of lungs from 261 coalminers in relation to the appearances of their chest radiographs taken within 4 yr of death were examined. Radiological opacities of coalworkers'' pneumoconiosis were more profuse as more dust was retained in lungs. Among the men who had mined low rank coal, i.e. with a relatively high proportion of ash, the increase in profusion was most closely related to the ash component of the dust; in men who had mined high rank coal, coal and ash increased in the lungs in relation to radiological profusion. The fine p type of opacity was associated with more dust and a higher propertion of coal and less ash than the nodular r opacity, and was also more likely to have been associated with emphysema. The pathological basis of the different types of opacity found on the radiographs of coal miners were related to the number, size and nodularity of the dust lesions. Larger fibrotic lesions appeared as r opacities; fine reticular dust deposition was most likely to present as p opacities with q opacities showing a mixture of appearances. The composition of dust retained in the lung, and its amount, made an important contribution to the radiographic appearances of pneumoconiosis. The r type of lesion on the radiograph of a low rank coalminer indicated the possibility of a silicotic-like lesion.