APPLICATION OF ILO CLASSIFICATION TO A POPULATION WITHOUT INDUSTRIAL-EXPOSURE - FINDINGS TO BE DIFFERENTIATED FROM PNEUMOCONIOSIS

The International Labor Office (ILO) classification of radiographs of pneumoconiosis is a standard means of assessing of the presence or absence of pneumoconiosis in workers exposed to mineral dusts. Using this classification, 200 admission chest radiographs were reviewed on hospitalized patients in an urban university medical center to determine the prevalence and possible significance of small opacities in a population without known industrial exposure. Men (71) and women (129) were screened with the mean age of 44.2 years (range, 15-84). Of the 200 patients, 36 (18%) had small opacities at profusion level 1/0 or greater and this constituted the positive radiographs group. A total of 22 patients (11%) with positive radiographs had no documentable dust exposure or other specific medical etiology that would explain the presence of their lung opacities. The high prevalence of small opacities in normal older individuals has important implications in the assessment of patients with suspected pneumoconiosis.