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Study Syllabus for Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses						Print
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										Radiograph ClassificationSubset 1Section 2: Parenchymal Abnormalities (Continued)
**Note:** It is customary when referring to the primary and secondary types of opacities in a radiograph to separate the primary and secondary notations by a forward slash (/) with the primary type of opacity occurring before the slash and the secondary type after the slash. Thus, for example, among the Standard ILO Film Radiographs, one was identified as **s/t** (the primary type of opacity is s; the secondary type, is t) or **t/t** (nearly all of the opacities are of the t type). It should be noted that in any single radiograph there may be only rounded opacities (**p, q, r**), only irregular opacities (**s, t, u**) or there may be both rounded and irregular.
b. Zones
2B. Small Opaciites form sample
Once the size and shape of the small opacities have been determined, the areas of involvement are indicated. For this purpose, the lungs are divided into an upper, middle and lower zone on each side by imaginary horizontal lines traversing the lungs at levels one-third and two-thirds of the vertical distance between the apices and the hemidiaphragmatic domes. Thus, on the report form, zones of involvement are represented by six boxes arranged in two vertical columns representing the right and left lungs.
Within each vertical column, the boxes from top to bottom represent the upper, middle and lower zones, respectively.
Check each box in the **Zones** block that represents a zone in which small opacities are thought to be present.
c. Profusion (Radiographs #4 to #10)
Having defined the character (size and shape) of any pneumoconiotic small opacities that may be present, and having indicated their distribution in terms of lung zones, it is next necessary to determine their profusion (concentration, number per unit area). Profusion is expressed in terms of four major categories: **0, 1, 2 and 3**. These span the range from no small opacities present (**0**) to a maximal number present (3), successively higher numbers representing progressively greater numbers of small opacities per unit area.
The profusion of small opacities is determined by visual comparison of the subject radiograph with ILO Standards representing the mid ranges of the four major categories. Profusion is in fact a continuum, and clinical radiographs, therefore, often do not match any one ILO Standard. Rather, they may appear to fall somewhere between two Standards. In recognition of this, each major category is divided into three “minor categories” creating a 12 point scale.RADIOGRAPHS #1 TO #3Page 3 of 8RADIOGRAPHS #4 AND #5
							
					
							Last Reviewed:  April 26, 2023						Source: 	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
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        Syndicate homeStudy Syllabus for Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses
Introductionplus icon
Preface
Appreciation to Contributors
Intent of the Self-study Syllbus
Getting Started
Clinical Overviewplus icon
Major Occupational Lung Diseasesplus icon
Pneumoconioses
Central Role of Diagnostic Imagingplus icon
Role of CT
Overview of Nonimaging Clinical Tools in Lung Disease Diagnosis
Appendix A
References
Pathology Overviewplus icon
Pulmonary Silicosis
Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis
Asbestos Pleuropulmonary Disease
Pathological-Clinical Correlations
References
Radiograph Classificationplus icon
SUBSET 1 – Radiograph Classification, #1 to #19plus icon
Introduction
Radiograph Identification
Section 1: Image Quality
Section 2: Parenchymal Abnormalities, #1 to #14
Section 3: Pleural Abnormalities, #15 to #19
Section 4: Any Other Abnormalities
Section 5
SUBSET 2 – Radiograph #20 to #27plus icon
Radiograph #20
Radiograph #21
Radiograph #22
Radiograph #23
Radiograph #24
Radiographs #25 to #27
SUBSET 3 – Radiograph #28 to #38plus icon
Radiographs #28 to #30
Radiographs #31 to #32
Radiographs #33 to #35
Radiographs #36 to #38
SUBSET 4 – Radiograph #39 to #46 (Small and Large Opacities)plus icon
Radiographs #39 to #40
Radiographs #41 to #42
Radiographs #43 to #44
Radiograph #45
Radiograph #46
SUBSET 5 – Classifications and Answer Keys, Radiographs #47 to #83
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