Airway remodeling is a term used to collectively indicate bronchial structural changes that may lead to irreversible airflow obstruction and progressive decline in lung function in asthmatic patients. Bronchial myofibroblasts contribute to airway remodeling by producing collagenous proteins in the subepithelial zone and by increasing the density of contractile cells in the bronchial wall. A sub...

We define asthma as a syndrome consisting of paroxysmal, recurrent and reversible partial obstruction of the lower bronchial tree resulting in the development of acute obstructive emphysema. Variability is a striking clinical feature of asthma both from patient to patient and in the same patient from day to day. The factors which produce bronchial obstruction in asthma are mucosal edema and con...

Sarcoidosis uncommonly presents with bronchial narrowing, produced by mucosal lesions or external compression by enlarged glands. We report two sisters with sarcoidosis who presented with severe inspiratory stridor as a result of obstruction of the major airways. An unusual feature of the second case was unilateral glandular enlargement. This produced such severe obstruction that mechanical dil...

Atelectasis or collapse of the lung as a cause of bronchiectasis is not by any means a recent idea. Reynaud, as long ago as 18351, in a comprehensive study of bronchial obstruction, noted that dilatation of the lumen might be present both proximal and distal to the obstruction. The dilatation proximal to the obstruction he ascribed to the increased force of the inspired air held up at the obstr...

We hypothesized that the joint effect of genetic propensity to asthma and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke on the risk of childhood asthma is greater than expected on the basis of their independent effects. We performed a population-based 4-year cohort study of 2,531 children born in Oslo, Norway. We collected information on the child's health and environmental exposures at birth and whe...

OBJECTIVE To assess the role of early respiratory infections in the development of bronchial obstruction in the first 2 years of life, and asthma by the age of 4 years in the Oslo Birth Cohort, established in 1992-1993. Having older siblings and attendance to a day care center were also considered as proxy measures of early infections. METHODS A total of 2531 children were followed from birth...

RATIONALE Sulfur mustard (SM) is a frequently used chemical warfare agent, even in modern history. SM inhalation causes significant respiratory tract injury, with early complications due to airway obstructive bronchial casts, akin to those seen after smoke inhalation and in single-ventricle physiology. This process with SM is poorly understood because animal models are unavailable. OBJECTIVES...

Airway remodelling is a critical feature of chronic bronchial diseases, characterised by aberrant repair of the epithelium and accumulation of fibroblasts, which contribute to extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition resulting in fixed bronchial obstruction. Recently, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been identified as a new source of fibroblasts that could contribute to the remodelling...

The usefulness of prednisolone in combination with the modern potent antituberculous drugs has been studied in 29 children with primary lung tuberculosis and hilar adenopathy causing bronchial obstruction. These children were divided at random in two groups of 15 and 14 patients. Both groups were treated similarly except that one group received prednisolone. Both groups were very similar before...