Volume 2

Studies in pathological anatomy / by Francis Delafield.

  • Delafield, Francis, 1841-1915
Date:
1882-1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Studies in pathological anatomy / by Francis Delafield. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    IN PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY. BRONCHO-PNEUMONIA. Before proceeding farther with the study of phthisis, it is neces- sary to consider more particularly some of the forms of non-tubercular broncho-pneumonia. Whenever the parenchyma of the lung is inflamed there is regu- larly some degree of bronchitis present, so that, strictly speaking, every pneumonia is a broncho-pneumonia. In most of such cases, however, the changes in the bronchi are superficial. Mucus, pus, or fibrine are found on the surface of the mucous membrane; the epithelial cells undergo various changes, the mucous glands are swollen, the blood- vessels are congested, but the wall of the bronchus is not changed except by the infiltration of a few pus-cells. There are cases, however, in which the wall of the bronchus does undergo well marked changes; it is thickened and markedly infiltrated with cells. The inflammatory process then does not usually remain confined to the bronchus, but extends to the air-vesicles surrounding it. The extension of the inflammation is not to the air-vesicles which empty into the bronchus, but into those which are in contact with it. It is as if a red-hot needle were thrust through the lung, making a track of charred tissue around it. So each of these inflamed bronchi along its whole length is surrounded by a zone of inflamed air-vesicles.