Master Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis with Picmonic for Medicine

Coal worker pneumoconiosis occurs due to prolonged coal exposure.

This disorder is also known as black lung disease.

The upper lobes of the lungs are the common site for coal worker pneumoconiosis, similar to the site of berylliosis and silicosis.

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis is a restrictive lung disease characterized by decreased lung volume and trouble expanding the lung maximally. Pulmonary function tests can be undiagnostic because the disorder can be seen as obstructive, restrictive, and mixed as well.

The prolonged coal exposure will trigger the presence of dust-laden macrophages. These occur due to the deposition of dust.

The dust-laden macrophages will trigger inflammation and fibrosis in the lung.

Patients can be seen with small, rounded nodular opacities in imaging.

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis increases the risk of Caplan syndrome, a syndrome consisting of rheumatoid arthritis and pneumoconioses with intrapulmonary nodules. It's a syndrome that belongs to rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Anthracosis is an asymptomatic condition found in many urban residents exposed to dirty air. It's a mild type of pneumoconiosis due to carbon accumulation in the lungs caused by prolonged exposure to air pollution or inhalation of smoke or coal dust particles.