Structural alterations of the lung in anthracosilicosis--automatic quantitation with an image-analysing computer.

A morphometric method of assessing anthracosilicotic alterations in lung structure was studied in 4 patients. The introduced model and a special technique for preparation permit the evaluation of anthracosilicotic dust deposits, secondary emphysema, and intact residual parenchyma by means of an image-analysing computer. This method appears particularly suitable for investigating and correlating morphology to clinical data, because the parameter 'intact residual parenchyma' can be reproduced in a short time with sufficient accuracy by random samples.