Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Large Airways (large + airway)
Selected AbstractsA pediatric patient with a mediastinal mass and pulmonary embolusPEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA, Issue 4 2006LAURA L. BURGOYNE BM BS Summary When anesthetizing a patient with an anterior mediastinal mass, sudden hypoxaemia and cardiovascular collapse may result from compression of a large airway or vascular structure in the mediastinum. We report the case of a pediatric cancer patient with an anterior mediastinal mass, who developed sudden and fatal hypoxaemia and cardiovascular collapse in the hours following sedation. A massive pulmonary thromboembolism was diagnosed at autopsy. We suggest that pulmonary embolism should be considered in the differential diagnosis when a patient with a mediastinal mass develops perioperative hypoxaemia, cardiovascular collapse, or both. [source] A comparative study of mammalian tracheal mucous glandsJOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 3 2000H. K. CHOI We have compared the distribution, numbers and volume of mucous glands in the tracheas of 11 mammalian species. No glands were present in the rabbit. The mouse only contained glands at the border between the trachea and larynx. In the rat, glands were commonest in the cephalad third of the trachea, but on average were much scarcer than in the larger species. Between species, there was a significant correlation between airway diameter and gland volume per unit surface area, suggesting that the rate of deposition of inhaled particles may increase in large airways. In the ventral portion of the trachea of about half the species, the glands were concentrated between the cartilaginous rings; in others they were evenly distributed over and between the rings. In most species in which the trachealis muscle attached to the internal surface of the cartilaginous rings, the glands were external to the muscle. In all species in which the muscle attached to the external surface of the cartilaginous rings, the glands were internal to the muscle. In the ox, goat, dog and sheep, the volume of glands per unit tracheal surface area was markedly greater in the ventral than the dorsal aspect of the trachea. The reverse was true of the pig. In humans, gland density in the 2 regions was similar. The frequency of gland openings was determined in the ox, goat, pig, dog and sheep tracheas, and ranged from 0.3 per mm2 in the dorsal portion of the sheep trachea to 1.5 per mm2 in the ventral portion of the ox trachea. For these 5 species, the volume of gland acini per unit luminal surface area varied linearly with the numbers of gland openings, with the volume of individual glands being constant at , 120 nl. [source] The role of small airways in monitoring the response to asthma treatment: what is beyond FEV1?ALLERGY, Issue 11 2009N. Scichilone The definition of asthma has evolved from that of an episodic disease characterized by reversible airways constriction to a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, with at least partially reversible airway constriction. Increasing evidence supports the notion that small and large airways play a central role in asthma pathophysiology with regard to inflammation, remodeling and symptoms. The contribution of the distal airways to the asthma phenotype carries implications for the delivery of inhaled medications to the appropriate areas of the lung and for the monitoring of the response to asthma treatment. Asthma control is evaluated on the basis of symptoms, lung function and exacerbations. However, evidence suggests that dissociation between lung function and respiratory symptoms, quality of life and airway inflammation exists. In this study, common spirometric parameters offer limited information with regard to the peripheral airways, and it is therefore necessary to move beyond FEV1. Several functional parameters and inflammatory markers, which are discussed in the present study, can be employed to evaluate distal lung function. In this study, extrafine formulations deliver inhaled drugs throughout the bronchial tree (both large and small airways) and are effective on parameters that directly or indirectly measure air trapping/airway closure. [source] Airway proteoglycans are differentially altered in fatal asthmaTHE JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2005Marcus de Medeiros Matsushita Abstract It has been suggested that airway remodelling is responsible for the persistent airway obstruction and decline in lung function observed in some asthmatic patients. The small airways are thought to contribute significantly to this functional impairment. Proteoglycans (PGs) are important components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the lungs. Besides controlling biophysical properties of the ECM, they play important roles in the regulation of some cytokines. Increased subepithelial PG deposition in the airways of mild asthmatics has been reported. However, there are no data on the PG content in small airways in asthma. This study has compared the content and distribution of PGs in large and small airways of patients who died of asthma with those in control lungs. Immunohistochemistry and image analysis were used to determine the content of lumican, decorin, biglycan, and versican in large (internal perimeter >6 mm) and small (internal perimeter ,6 mm) airways of 18 patients who had died of asthma (A) and ten controls (C). The results were expressed as PG area (µm2)/epithelial basement membrane length (µm). The main differences between asthmatics and controls were observed in the small airways. There was a significant decrease in decorin and lumican contents in the external area of small airways in asthmatics (decorin: A = 1.05 ± 0.27 µm, C = 3.97 ± 1.17 µm, p = 0.042; lumican: A = 1.97 ± 0.37 µm, C = 5.66 ± 0.99 µm, p = 0.002). A significant increase in versican content in the internal area of small and large airways in asthmatics was also observed (small: A = 7.48 ± 0.84 µm, C = 5.16 ± 0.61 µm, p = 0.045; large: A = 18.38 ± 1.94 µm, C = 11.90 ± 2.86 µm, p = 0.028). The results show that PGs are differentially expressed in the airways of fatal asthma and may contribute to airway remodelling. These data reinforce the importance of the small airways in airway remodelling in asthma. Copyright © 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||