As a part of a continuing program of study of the morphology of lungs from emphysematous and aging subjects, tissue samples containing the “smallest” non-respiratory bronchiole from twelve emphysematous patients and twelve normal subjects were subjected to planimetry. The mean cross sectional area of various structures in the two groups were statistically compared.The most striking aspect of the study was a marked restriction of the mean area of the lumens of non-respiratory bronchioles ...

Anderson, A. E., and Foraker, A. G. (1973).Thorax, 28, 547-550. Centrilobular emphysema and panlobular emphysema: two different diseases. Twenty-one cases of centrilobular emphysema and 19 cases of panlobular emphysema, previously so designated according to recommended criteria, were reassessed for differences in zonal distribution within lungs through systematic sampling and statistical comparisons. Characteristic distribution profiles were defined for the two forms of disease. ...

A series of bronchiolar lumina were reconstructed from serial histologic sections of nine nonrespiratory bronchioles from lungs of six normal male subjects and compared with 18 similar preparations from eight male subjects with severe centrilobular emphysema. The lumina of the normal nonrespiratory bronchioles had smooth surfaces and were generally cylindrical in shape between branchings. Irregular dichotomy was the rule. In contrast, the lumina of the nonrespiratory bronchioles from ...

The relationship between smoking and pulmonary emphysema was explored in 71 autopsies, by correlating Gough-Wentworth lung macrosections with smoking histories. An increasing percentage of smokers was found with each increment of emphysema. Particularly close relationship was observed between centrilobular emphysema and smoking. No definite association was found between smoking and panlobular emphysema.

In an endeavour to elucidate the anatomical basis for the increased resistance to airflow which characterises the most peripheral conducting air passages in pulmonary emphysema, lumina of nonrespiratory bronchioles of lungs with mainly centrilobular disease were assessed for two- and three-dimensional features by: (1) determination of percentage conformity of the lumina of individual bronchioles in histological sections to hypothetical planes through cylinders (ie, ellipses with the same ...

Histological measurements in cases of severe paniobular and centrilobular emphysema and in normal lungs disclosed a generalized thickening of the walls of small airways in the panlobular group. With mathematical models, this was depicted as a potential basis for airway closure at higher than normal lung volumes and trapping of air. Lungs with mixtures of panlobular and centrilobular emphysema predominate in the general population, and the obstructive component of airways in this setting ...

A resume of a continuing program of study of pulmonary emphysema is presented.An orderly sequence was observed in alveolar septa of emphysematous human lungs proceeding from simple inflammation to dissolution on one hand or interstitial alveolar fibrosis on the other. In addition, quantitative methods showed a decreased number of nonrespiratory (“terminal”) bronchioles and reduced mean cross sectional lumen area of those bronchioles that remained. Measurements, however, failed to ...

Eosinophilic granuloma may be defined briefly as a chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology characterized primarily by the presence of histiocytes and eosinophils. General awareness of this disease may be said to be a consequence of two almost simultaneous but independent studies which appeared in 1940,1,2 although Mazzitello3 mentions the existence of less well-appreciated earlier descriptions. After 1940 a series of papers appeared in considerable number, and a clinical and ...

Mechanically generated cigarette smoke and ambient air were injected into dichotomous ducts and geometrically preserved human bronchi in a fashion simulating typical smoking technique. When the air passages were at ambient temperature, the smoke settled into the lower branches. Smoke which was injected into passages warmed to body temperature rose to the upper branches. The latter selective distribution of the smoke resembled the distribution of centrilobular emphysema in the lungs.

The plugging of nonrespiratory bronchioles by mucus and cellular debris was found to be approximately twice as common in emphysematous as in normal lungs. This plugging is presumed to be a significant source of reversible obstruction in emphysema.

Bronchi were assessed morphometrically for various components of the bronchial wall believed to play in maintaining normal air flow. Areas of the entire bronchial wall, the bronchial glands, and the bronchial cartilages were determined planimetrically in three groups of subjects: (1) elderly emphysematous individuals; (2) age-matched normal controls; and (3) young normal subjects. There were no significant differences in the areas of bronchial cartilage in the three groups studied. The ...