Rales in silicosis. A correlative study with physiological and radiological abnormalities.

Pulmonary auscultation, pulmonary function tests and radiological examination were done in 127 hospitalized patients with silicosis. Fine crackle (FC) was heard in 21.3% of patients, coarse crackle (CC) in 28.5%, rhonchi or wheeze (RorW) in 25.2% and friction rub (FR) in 5.5%. In complicated silicosis the incidence of rales was paradoxically lower than in simple silicosis (54.6 vs. 83.3%, respectively, p less than 0.05). In simple silicosis, patients with CC and/or RorW had lower %VC and FEV1/FVC%, but in complicated silicosis, the relation between the presence of rales and pulmonary functional status was not so apparent. These results suggest that in relatively advanced silicosis, all kinds of rales are heard, and in simple silicosis, rales are useful indicators of physiological impairment, but in complicated silicosis, they do not seem to be so useful.