Study Syllabus for Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses
Clinical Overview
Central Role of Diagnostic Imaging
Conclusions
The diagnosis of an occupational lung disease is based on a combination of findings from history, physiological and radiological assessment. A complete occupational and environmental exposure history along with information on potential confounding factors such as smoking and co-morbid conditions are essential to diagnosis and management. When considering occupational interstitial lung diseases, the importance of imaging for diagnosis is unequivocal. Specific treatment for many occupational lung diseases is limited or unavailable, particularly for the pneumoconioses. In addition to supportive medical management, care of the affected patient may require complete cessation of exposure and referral for benefits counseling. Integration of imaging findings (including judicious use of HRCT) with other findings on clinical evaluation is important to achieve diagnostic accuracy, facilitate detection of early disease, and optimize long-term care and prevention.