Diseases of the lungs, bronchi and pleura (pulmonology)

Asthmatic status

Asthmatic status is a severe, prolonged attack of bronchial asthma, characterized by severe or acutely progressive respiratory failure caused by obstruction of the airways, with the formation of patient resistance to the therapy (V.S. Shchelkunov, 1996).

Diagnosis of bronchial asthma

A study of the external respiratory function in patients with bronchial asthma is mandatory and allows one to objectively determine the degree of bronchial obstruction, its reversibility and variability (daily and weekly fluctuations), as well as the effectiveness of the treatment.

Symptoms of bronchial asthma

The precursor period begins several minutes, hours, sometimes days before the attack and is manifested by the following symptoms: vasomotor reactions of the nasal mucosa (abundant secretion of watery mucus), sneezing, itching of the eyes and skin, paroxysmal coughing, shortness of breath, headache, fatigue, excessive diuresis, and often mood changes (irritability, mental depression, gloomy forebodings).

Pathogenesis of bronchial asthma

As stated earlier, according to modern concepts, the morphological basis of bronchial asthma is chronic inflammation of the bronchial wall with an increase in the number of activated eosinophils, mast cells, T-lymphocytes in the bronchial mucosa, thickening of the basement membrane and the subsequent development of subepithelial fibrosis.

Causes of bronchial asthma

Hereditary predisposition to bronchial asthma is detected in 46.3% of patients; if one parent has bronchial asthma, the probability of developing bronchial asthma in a child is 20-30%, and if both parents are sick, it reaches 75%.

Classification of bronchial asthma

Currently, there are two main approaches to the classification of bronchial asthma: on the one hand, bronchial asthma is classified by etiology; on the other hand, by the severity of the disease.

Bronchial Asthma - Information Overview

Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory tract involving cells (mast cells, eosinophils, T-lymphocytes), mediators of allergy and inflammation, accompanied in predisposed individuals by hyperreactivity and variable obstruction of the bronchi, which is manifested by an attack of suffocation, the appearance of wheezing, coughing or difficulty breathing, especially at night and/or early in the morning.

Pulmonary Emphysema - Information Overview

Pulmonary emphysema is a pathological process characterized by the expansion of the alveoli located distal to the terminal bronchioles and accompanied by destructive changes in the alveolar walls (elastic fibers of the lung tissue).

Obliterative bronchiolitis: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Obliterating bronchiolitis is a disease from the group of “diseases of the small respiratory tract” in which the bronchioles are affected - respiratory tracts with a diameter of less than 2-3 mm that do not have a cartilaginous base and mucous glands.

Chronic bronchitis - Classification

The most widely used classification of chronic bronchitis is that of N. R. Paleev, V. A. Ilchenko, and L. N. Tsarkova (1990, 1991). The classification is based on the following principles: determination of the nature of the inflammatory process, the presence or absence of bronchial obstruction and complications.