Abstract

This is a first autopsy case in Korea. The patient was a 48 years old male who had been exposed for about 13 years to dust as a miner. Both lungs are massive fibrous adhesion to the pleura. The cut surface of the lung shows excess of pigmentation throughout, but striking and distinctive feature is the presence of round nodules. These are dense and black or gray in colour. Microscopically fibrosis extends into the parenchyma between such nodules and eventually convert the area or the entire lobe into a massive fibrous scar, with only small intervening areas of emphysematous lung parenchyma. The X-ray finding of the lungs show a cavity, measuring 3×4cm and silicotic dense shadow. The silica was confirmed by qualitative test chemically.