Research Information System
Journal of Bronchology, vol.13, no.3, pp.153-155, 2006 (Scopus)
Flexible bronchoscopy was performed in a 71-year-old man with a diagnosis of massive progressive fibrosis from coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Bronchoscopy revealed dark black pigmentations scattered through out the airway. The left upper lobe and lingual segment orifices were partially occluded by a lumpy-bumpy, darkly pigmented, thickened mucosa. Biopsy demonstrated macrophages surrounding the airway which contained an abundant amount of foreign material consistent with the known diagnosis. Airway narrowing in the setting of airway anthracosis, not related to environmental exposure, has recently been termed anthracofibrosis. We propose the term "anthracostenosis" to describe the central airway obstruction related to pneumoconiosis. Copyright © 2006 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.