It results from inhalation of coal dust over 15-20 years
can progress despite cessation of exposure to dust, there is no specific treatment. Patients will eventually develop pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale
Two types:
Simple coalworker’s pneumoconiosis – small aggregates of coal particles, dispersed by evident on CXR as multinodular mottling – not associated with significant symptoms
Complicated – progressive massive fibrosis – large black fibrotic masses in parenchyma (coal dust + bundles of collagen), typically found in upper zones (look like bizarre opacities on CXR)
Lesions can become cavitated → expectoration of black sputum (melanopytsis) “the black lung”