[Is annual X-ray examination of the chest still justified in industrial medicine?].

Between 1975 and 1979, 137.526 annual X-ray examinations of the chest were performed among the employees of a large Paris administration. Fifty-four cases of tuberculosis, 28 cases of sarcoidosis, 10 cases of bronchial carcinoma and 26 miscellaneous chest diseases were detected. This study confirms the inadequacy of radiological examination for detecting chronic obstructive bronchopulmonary conditions. The small proportion of tuberculosis (0.39 p.1000) and bronchial carcinoma (0.07 p.1000) revealed by this method suggests that it should be reserved to high risk patients.