Pneumoconiosis differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Dushka Riaz, MD

Overview

Pneumoconiosis must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], [clinical feature 2], and [clinical feature 3], such as [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

Differentiating [Disease name] from other Diseases

[Disease name] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], [clinical feature 2], and [clinical feature 3], such as [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

[Disease name] must be differentiated from [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

As [disease name] manifests in a variety of clinical forms, differentiation must be established in accordance with the particular subtype. [Subtype name 1] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], such as [differential dx1] and [differential dx2]. In contrast, [subtype name 2] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 2], such as [differential dx3] and [differential dx4].

Differentiating pneumoconiosis from other diseases on the basis of dyspnea and cough

On the basis of cough and chronic dyspnea, pneumoconiosis must be differentiated from lung malignancy, tuberculosis, emphysema, asthma, interstitial lung disease, pneumonia, and sarcoidosis.

Diseases	Clinical manifestations						Para-clinical findings			Gold standard
	Symptoms			Physical examination
							Lab Findings		Imaging
	Chronic Dyspnea	Cough	Fever	Spirometry	Auscultation	Tachypnea	CBC	ABG	Imaging
Pneumoconiosis	+	+		↑ FEV1/FVC						HRCT
Lung Malignancy	+	+								Bronchoscopy
Tuberculosis	+	+								IFN-y assay and acid fast stain
Emphysema	+	+								Physical exam, spirometry
Asthma	+	+								Physical exam, spirometry before and after brondchodilator
Interstitial lung diseases	+	+								HRCT
Sarcoidosis	+	+								HRCT
Pneumonia	+	+								CXR, CT Scan