[Asbestos-related occupational lung diseases. Role of the pneumology unit in screening and compensation].

The application of new decrees concerning the protection of individuals against sanitary risks linked to the various possible expositions to asbestos dusts is leading to a growing involvement of pulmonologists in diagnosis procedures not only for active workers regularly examined via the occupational medicine healthcare system, but also for those who are no longer, the unemployed or retired previously exposed to asbestos fibres. The present chapter presents and comments the revised guidelines about the compensation procedures for occupational diseases, and provides useful recommendations for establishing the records leading to their medical assessment. It emphasises the importance of a close cooperation between pulmonologists and radiologists in order to avoid radiation overdosing, which could increase the risk of lung cancer, as much as possible.