[Clincial aspects and treatment of exacerbated chronic respiratory insufficiency in silicosis patients].

The clinical picture and treatment of exacerbated chronic respiratory insufficiency is studied in 189 silicosis patients with different stage and degree of decompensation. It is found out that chronic respiratory insufficiency determination in these patients is conditioned by the exacerbation of a chronic inflammtory process in the bronchi and lungs (68.2 per cent), or by intercurrent acute inflammtory pulmonary process (15.9 per cent). The clinical manifestation of the disease is aggravated and modified by the appearance of new clinical elements, resulting in the typical clinical picture of inflammatory decompensation of silicosis. It is stressed that the effect of treatment is greater, the milder the stage of the disease, and the earlier and less marked the decompensation-induced derangements. Lethality in patients with III degree silicosis amounts to 8,2 per cent, and in patients with III degree respiratory insufficiency -- to 30.7 per cent. A complex active therapy program for silicosis patients with exacerbated chronic respiratory insufficiency is proposed.