Introduction
Silicosis is an irreversible and fibrotic interstitial lung disease that
is frequently brought on by inhaling crystalline silica or silicon
dioxide.1According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report, silicosis
continued to be the most important risk factor for pneumoconiosis in
2017 with 39% of cases being attributed to it. It is manifested by a
range of respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, chest
tightness, and sputum
expectoration2.
Since there is no complete cure for the illness, prevention and early
diagnosis through clinical features and radiological features are
essential.3
Patients with silicosis are three to four times more likely to get TB
than those who do not have
silicosis.4There may be difficulty in differentiating silicosis from tuberculosis,
as tuberculosis can mask the symptoms and radiological features of
silicosis. Here, we report the case of a 40-year-old man with silicosis
having a history of stone crushing for 10 years he was previously
misdiagnosed with tuberculosis based on X-ray abnormalities and clinical
findings and had a full course of TB treatment.