ABSTRACT
Anthracofibrosis is a bronchial stenosis due to local mucosal fibrosis that also presents anthracotic pigment in the mucosa. The cause has not been well clarified, although there is a frequent association with tuberculosis and the exposure to smoke from biofuel or biomass combustion. It is an entity that has not been reported in Spain, although the influx of people from rural areas of developing countries or rural areas of our own country should make us contemplate this entity in the differential diagnosis of our patients. We present 3 cases detected in Spain (2 of them natives) diagnosed by bronchoscopy and bronchial biopsy, which are techniques necessary to confirm the diagnosis. There is no specific treatment, except for tuberculostatic treatment in cases with coexisting tuberculosis.
Subject(s)
Anthracosis/diagnosis , Bronchial Diseases/diagnosis , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Anthracosis/classification , Anthracosis/complications , Anthracosis/pathology , Biofuels/adverse effects , Biopsy , Bronchial Diseases/classification , Bronchial Diseases/complications , Bronchial Diseases/pathology , Bronchoscopy , Constriction, Pathologic , Cooking , Enterobacteriaceae Infections/complications , Environmental Exposure , Female , Fibrosis , Haemophilus Infections/complications , Humans , India/ethnology , Male , Metallurgy , Occupational Diseases/diagnosis , Occupational Diseases/etiology , Occupational Diseases/pathology , Pneumonia, Bacterial/complications , Pulmonary Atelectasis/etiology , Rural Population , Smoke/adverse effects , Spain , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/complications , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosisABSTRACT
To protect the health of active U.S. underground coal miners, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has a mandate to carry out surveillance for coal workers' pneumoconiosis, commonly known as Black Lung (PHS 2001). This is accomplished by reviewing chest x-ray films obtained from miners at approximately 5-year intervals in approved x-ray acquisition facilities around the country. Currently, digital chest images are not accepted. Because most chest x-rays are now obtained in digital format, NIOSH is redesigning the surveillance program to accept and manage digital x-rays. This paper highlights the functional and security requirements for a digital image management system for a surveillance program. It also identifies the operational differences between a digital imaging surveillance network and a clinical Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS) or teleradiology system.
