title: Black-pigmented sputum.
abstract: Black-pigmented sputum, also called "melanoptysis," is a symptom that may be observed in certain pathologies such us coal workers' pneumoconiosis (anthracosis). The cavitation and liquefaction of a fibrosed mass by an infectious process (tuberculosis, infections by anaerobes, etc.) or by ischemic necrosis may cause expectoration of a blackish secretion. We report the case of a patient with labor precedents as a coal worker, from whom abundant black sputum was obtained in the course of an incidental expectoration. Cyto-histological findings are shown and a differential diagnosis is established.
authors.affiliation: CFGS Anatomic Pathology and Cytology. Institute of Piedras Blancas-Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martínez-Girón
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Oncología, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mosquera-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine. Oviedo University, Spain.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martínez-Torre
keywords: Anthracosis; black-pigmented sputum; melanoptysis