Abstract
The uses and limitations of chest radiography in the study, surveillance, screening, and clinical diagnosis of occupational lung diseases in dust exposed miners were reviewed and discussed. Miners' lung diseases detectable by radiography were discussed, including silicosis, obstructive airways disease, bronchitis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and asbestos (1332214) related diseases, as well as the use of radiography in epidemiology, surveillance, medical screening, and clinical evaluations in miners. Methodological issues in radiographic interpretation included standardization of reporting and recording, film quality and technique, reader skills and attitudes, reader variability, insensitivity of radiographs to pneumoconiosis, and reading for disease progression. Future directions of study were discussed, including changes in imaging technology for pneumoconiosis detection and changes in the classification system.
