Abstract
We examined the structure of the membranous and respiratory bronchioles of lungs resected from nonsmokers and compared these to those obtained from current and exsmokers. The structure of both types of airways was altered by cigarette smoking, and these pathologic changes were accompanied by differences in pulmonary function. The walls of membranous bronchioles less than 0.40 mm internal diameter were increased in thickness by approximately 50% in current and exsmokers, while wall thickness of respiratory bronchioles of this size was increased by 100%. The presence of emphysema did not alter the wall thickness of either airway type in either smokers or exsmokers, nor were there differences in airflow between subjects with and without emphysema. These data suggest that the airways obstruction associated with cigarette smoking is due to a process that thickens the wall of membranous and respiratory bronchioles less than 0.60 mm in diameter.
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Wright, J.L., Hobson, J., Wiggs, B.R. et al. Effect of cigarette smoking on structure of the small airways. Lung 165, 91–100 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714426
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714426