[Tattooing of the bronchial mucosa in patients with pneumoconiosis and dust bronchitis].

Medical examinations were performed of 138 pneumoconiosis (PC), 123 dust bronchitis (DB) cases and 28 pulmonary cases of non-occupational etiology. Fiber bronchoscopy with biopsy of bronchial mucosal tissue and, if necessary, transbronchial biopsy were performed in all the cases. Bronchial mucosa tattooing in persons exposed to different industrial aerosols did not depend on the forms of PC, DB and the diseases' stages. Nevertheless, it was established that, at more expressed stages of the disease and in case with complications (anthraco-tuberculosis), tattooing of the bronchial tree was more developed. In 92.3% cases, tattooing was formed in persons exposed to industrial aerosols containing more than 10% free silicon deoxide. On the tissue level, the morphologic substrate of the tattooing was lymphatic nodes obturating the coniophages and the coniotic infiltration of the bronchial mucosa connective tissue. Anthraco-tuberculosis induced specific inflammation contributed to the infiltration process due to the lymphodynamic disorders caused by lymphadenopathy.