Silicosis chest x ray

• A chest radiograph is obtained in virtually all patients undergoing evaluation for silicosis. It will confirm the presence of nodules in the lungs, especially in the upper lobes.

• In acute silicosis, the chest radiograph demonstrates characteristic

• Bilateral consolidation,
• Typically symmetrical
• Diffuse ground glass opacities which may be perihilar or basilar ^[1][2].

• These features may progress from a pattern of lower zone opacities to large masses of coalesced parenchymal tissue in the mid and lower zones, which are typically bilateral but not always symmetrical ^[1].
• The typical chest radiograph finding in chronic simple silicosis is the presence of many small round opacities of

• Less than 10 mm in diameter,
• Distributed predominantly in the upper lung zones.

• Progressive massive fibrosis also known as conglomerate silicosis occurs when these small opacities gradually enlarge and coalesce to form larger opacities

• Of more than 10 mm in diameter .
• Asymmetrical, and may mimic a neoplastic process.
• And associated with upper lobe fibrosis and lower lobe hyperinflation.
• Hilar adenopathy with prominent eggshell calcification^[3] is present in up to 5 percent of workers with silicosis.
• Cavitation may also be present in advanced disease or in the setting of mycobacterial superinfection.

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