Le retentissement fonctionnel des pneumoconioses à opacités fines des mineurs de charbon sans troubles ventilatoires

Abstract

200 coal miners without any obstructive ventilatory impairment and presenting small opacities of pneumoconiosis were submitted to respiratory function tests including: spirography, CO transfer test by both steady-state and single-breath methods, and arterial blood gas analysis at rest. 38% do not show any significant abnormalities in the different tests. How ever, 9% presented a discrete hypoxemia at rest imputable either to distribution inequalities in 43.5%, to diffusion impairment in 14%, or less frequently to shunt effects.The frequency of diffusion impairment increases with the extent of radiological abnormalities. No radio-functional correlations were observed for distribution inequalities and hypoxemia.