Abstract
The lungs of young smokers and controls of comparable age from a population of sudden non-hospital deaths were systematically studied to determine the relation between cigarette smoking and pathologic changes in peripheral airways. The characteristic lesion observed was a respiratory bronchiolitis associated with clusters of pigmented alveolar macrophages and was present in the lungs of all smokers studied but rarely seen in nonsmokers (p<0.002). The lungs of smokers also showed small but significant increases in mural inflammatory cells and denuded epithelium in the membranous bronchioles as compared to controls (p<0.05). We postulate that this respiratory bronchiolitis is a precursor of centriacinar emphysema and may be responsible for the subtle functional abnormalities observed in young smokers. (N Engl J Med 291: 755–758, 1974)
Keywords
MedicinePeripheralSmall airwaysCigarette smokingPathologyLungInternal medicine
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1974
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 291
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 755-758
- Citations
- 943
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Dennis E. Niewoehner,
Jerome Kleinerman,
Donald B. Rice
(1974).
Pathologic Changes in the Peripheral Airways of Young Cigarette Smokers.
New England Journal of Medicine
, 291
(15)
, 755-758.
https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm197410102911503
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1056/nejm197410102911503