Haemodilution as a cause of anaemia in coalworkers.

Chan, B. W. B. (1969).Brit. J. industr. Med.,26, 237-239. Haemodilution as a cause of anaemia in coalworkers. Blood volume measurements were made in eight cases of anaemia in coal-workers, including four men with Caplan's syndrome (rheumatoid pneumoconiosis), and in eight non-anaemic patients with chronic lung disease without significant arterial hypoxia. The total blood volume and the plasma volume were significantly increased in the anaemic group but the red cell volume was almost identical in the two groups. These results suggest that haemodilution is an important factor in the anaemia of these patients.