The Chest Roentgenogram in Smoking Females

Our plain-English summary of The Chest Roentgenogram in Smoking Females, by L.M. Kotzen, M.J. Fischer, A.D. Carilli (1973).

The study

• Authors: L.M. Kotzen, M.J. Fischer, A.D. Carilli
• Published: American Review of Respiratory Disease, Volume 107 (1973)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This study, from Hackensack Hospital in New Jersey, asked whether a standard chest X-ray could show which women smoked. Two radiologists separately read the chest films of 92 women, 54 nonsmokers and 38 smokers, without knowing their smoking histories, and judged whether each woman was a smoker. Smoking was measured in pack-years. Both radiologists correctly identified nonsmokers under 50 years old more than 70 per cent of the time. For smokers of more than 25 pack-years, both were correct more than 90 per cent of the time, and when they agreed, their probability of being correct was 100 per cent. The main change seen in smokers was scattered linear and nodular densities. In a few women the blood vessels at the edges of the lungs appeared reduced, and in others the bronchial walls were thickened. The authors concluded that these changes were, in general, quantitatively related to the degree and duration of cigarette smoke exposure, and they called for more studies. The study concerned cigarette smoking, not asbestos.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Cross-sectional study in which two radiologists independently read chest X-rays without knowing the women's smoking histories, then judged whether each woman smoked
• Who was studied: 92 women employees of Hackensack Hospital, New Jersey: 54 nonsmokers and 38 smokers (report dated April 24, 1972)
• Exposure: Cigarette smoking, measured in pack-years. Asbestos was not studied.
• Main results:
  • Both radiologists correctly identified nonsmokers less than 50 years old more than 70 per cent of the time
  • For smokers of more than 25 pack-years, the radiologists were correct more than 90 per cent of the time
  • For smokers of more than 25 pack-years, the probability of the radiologists being correct when both agreed was 100 per cent
  • The predominant change in smokers was linear and nodular densities throughout both lung fields. In a few subjects there was attenuation of the peripheral pulmonary vasculature, and in others thickening of bronchial walls.
  • An illustrative film from a 56-year-old woman who had smoked 50 pack-years showed scattered linear and nodular densities. The film of a 56-year-old woman who never smoked showed a normal pattern.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the changes seen in smokers were, in general, quantitatively related to the degree and duration of cigarette smoke exposure, and that more studies correlating smoking with clinical, X-ray and pathologic changes are needed

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chest X-Ray.

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