Respiratory infections - Pathology 2 Flashcards
What is an infection of the lung called
pneumonia or pneumonitis
Describe how the size of the air micron affects where it is deposited in the airway
- particles that are more than 10 micron in size are held in the upper airways
- 3-10 microns are trapped in the tracheobronchial mucus
- 1-5 microns(bacteria) are deposited in terminal airways and alveoli
- less than 1 micron is suspended in alveolar air
What are the defence mechanisms of the lung
- Nasal clearance
- Tracheobronchial clearance: mucociliary action
- Alveolar clearance: Alveolar macrophages
How can lung mechanisms be disturbed
- Suppression of cough reflex = due to coma, anaesthesia, drugs, chest pain, neuromuscular disease
- Injury to mucociliary apparatus = due to smoking, inhalation of hot/corrosive gases, congenital
- disturbance of macrophage function = due to smoking, alcohol, anoxia, oxygen toxicity
- pulmonary congestion and oedema
- accumulation of secretions
What is pneumonia
- Alveolar inflammation
What are the types of pneumonia
- lobar pneumonia
- bronchopneumonia
- atypical pneumonia
what is lobar pneumonia also known as
- community acquired pneumonia
what part of the lobe does lobar pneumonia affect
- affects large part or the entire lobe
what causes lobar pneumonia
- 90% caused by streptococcus pneumonia
What are the clinical features of lobar pneumonia
- high grade fevers with riggers
- productive cough
- rusty sputum
- pleuritic chest pain
- signs of consolidation - when you look at the chest X ray, when you tap there chest, when you listen to the chest (bronchial breath sounds)
describe what the pathology of lobar pneumonia looks like
- the lobe that is affected looks more consolidated
- has 4 different stages
Describe the pathogenesis of lobar pneumonia
- Congestion (24 Hours)
- vessel engorged
- oedema in alveoli
- heavy, red lung - Red hepatisation (2-4 days)
- outpouring of neutrophils and RBC’s into alveoli, red, solid, airless, liver-like lung (resembles the liver)
3l. Grey hepatisation(4-8 days)
- fibrin and macrophage replace neutrophils and RBC’s, grey, solid, airless lung
- Resolution (8-10 days)
- gradual return to normal
- these stages are not seen with prompt treatment
What are the complications of lobar pneumonia
- rarely you can have suppurative complications such as lung abscess or emyema especially with Klebsiella or staphylococcus infections
What is the commonest type of pneumonia
- Bronchopneumonia
Where do you see bronchopneumonia
- chronic debilitating illness
- secondary to viral infections
- infancy
- old age
How does bronchopneumonia begin
- begins as bronchitis and bronchiolitis and then spreads to alveoli
What causes bronchopneumonia
- Low virulence bacteria such as staph, street viridian’s, H influenzas, pseudomonas, coliform
describe the pathology of bronchopneumonia
- bilateral - affects both lung
- worse in the basal as there is more statsis and the air supply is worse
- patchy
- grey or grey-red spots of consolidation
- microscopically acute inflammatory infiltrate in bronchioles and alveoli
What are the complications of bronchopneumonia
- death - because usually complicating/terminal event in other debilitating illness or extremes of age
- resolution
- scarring
- abscess/empyema - rare
what are the x ray differences between lobar pneumonia and bronchopneumonia
Lobar
- X ray and clinical signs: complete lobar opacity
bronchopneumonia
- Focal opacities, clinical sign less pronounced
What is more important that the difference between the lobar and bronchopneumonia
- Correct identification of causative agent
- determination of extent of disease
What is interstitial (atypical) pneumonia
- caused by different organisms
- inflammation is restricted to alveolar septa and interstitial tissues: interstitial pneumonitis
- no or minimal alveolar exudate
- can be patchy or extensive
- congested subcrepitant lungs
- rarely intra-alveolar proteinancous material forming hyaline membrane
what can you get in interstitial (atypical) alveoli
rarely intra-alveolar proteinancous material forming hyaline membrane
Why is interstitial pneumonia atypical
- they don’t have the normal symptoms of pneumonia
- don’t have a normal X ray that you would see in pneumonia
What can cause interstitial pneumonia atypical
- mycoplasma pneumonia
- Viruses: influenza A and B, RSV, acino, rhino, rubeola, varicella
- chlamydia
- coxiella
- often undetermined