47. Bronchial asthma

Page created on December 3, 2018. Last updated on January 17, 2019 at 17:23

Staining: HE and PAS

Organ: Lung

Description:

The lung parenchyme is normal. However, the bronchus shows 6 alterations:

  1. A mucus plug in the lumen
  2. Goblet cell hyperplasia in the respiratory lumen
  3. Thickened basement membrane
  4. Lymphocytes, eosinophils in the sub-epithelial layer
  5. Smooth muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia
  6. Mucus gland hyperplasia

Alteration 1, 2, 3 and 6 are PAS positive

Diagnosis: Bronchial asthma

Etiology:

  • Hypersensitivity type 1 reaction

Theory:

The slide exists in both PAS and HE form. They’re both taken from the same preparation, at approximately the same height.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that causes recurrent acute episodes of wheezing and cough. Intermittent and reversible airway obstruction is characteristic, along with eosinophilic inflammation of the bronchi, smooth muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia and increased mucus production.

We can recognize that we’re looking at a bronchus by the presence of cartilage.

Recognize eosinophils for extra points on the exam.

Protected Area

These images are password-protected due to copyright concerns. Please verify with a password to unlock the content. If you are a medical student in Pécs or feel like you should have access to the content for any other reason, send me an e-mail.


Previous page:
46. CMV lung

Next page:
48. Silicosis

Parent page:
Histopathology slides

Leave a Reply

Inputting your name is optional. All comments are anonymous.