Clinical overview of occupational lung disease.
The workplace has been a source of lung injury for centuries, yet awareness of the types of injuries has varied over time. Because of distinctive differences among the occupational lung disorders, a continual update of the clinical findings, dose response data, physiologic characteristics, and radiographic findings is needed. The radiologist plays a key role for the evaluation of miners, foundry or factory workers exposed to mineral dusts, and of workers exposed to the "biologic" dusts, infectious agents, cancer causing agents, and chemicals causing interstitial lung diseases. This overview includes a discussion of classification systems, criteria for diagnosis of occupational lung diseases, the pulmonary clinician's evaluation, and important aspects of specific disorders and concludes with a discussion of pulmonary disability determination.
Epler
G R
GR
Department of Medicine, New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology