<note> sample="quota" bates="1005049184" isource="pm" decade="1970" class="ni" date="1970000" </note>

I. Changes in Bronchial Glands in Young Adults: Effects of Age and
Smoking II. Jerome Kleinerman, M.D. Head, Department of Pathology
Research, St. Luke's Hospital Associate Professor of Pathology, Case
Western Reserve University St. Luke's Hospital 11311 Shaker Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44104 Donald B. Rice, B.D. Research Assistant, Department
of Pathology Research St. Luke's Hospital 1131 Shaker Boulevard Cleveland,
Ohio 44104 III. 1) Pathology - Bronchitis 2) Respiratory Structure
and Function 

IV. The anatomic basis of chronic bronchitis is an hypertrophy and
hyperplasia of the glandular structures in the bronchial wall. Few
studies have been directed to the early morphologic alterations in
this entity. We have surveyed the bronchi and lungs in 48 males (ages
16-45) who died acutely or violently and without obvious respiratory
disease. Bronchi from five different sites were analyzed by measurement
of Reid Index and total gland area. We observed a trend of increased
Reid Index and total gland area with age. In the main bronchus the
Reid Index in the 16-20 year age group was 0.283 ą 0.054 (n=11), as
compared to a high of 0.410 ą 0.111 (n=7) in the year 36-40 year age
range. A similar increase was reflected in the total gland area of
these groups. The cause of this change was investigated in a smaller
group (n=19) in which historical information, including smoking habits,
was obtained. The Reid Index of smokers was significantly greater
than that of non-smokers. This was again corroborated in the total
gland area data. No significant difference in these parameters was
observed between younger smokers (age 26-36) and older smokers (age
37-46) nor between groups of "heavy" smokers (47-72 pack-years, mean
57) and "light" smokers (17-42 pack-years, mean 31). The general applicability
and sensitivity of the Reid Index was challenged by comparing it to
the Changes in Bronchial Glands in Young Adults: Effects of Age and
Smoking (continued) total gland area alone and to the ratio of total
gland area to bronchial wall area. The Reid Index, when carefully
measured, did reflect the amount of gland substance in the bronchial
wall for the sections in this study and appears to be a valid index
of the proportion of glands within the bronchial wall. This study
indicates that bronchial gland hyperplasia exists in pre-clinical
states and that smoking is an important factor in its genesis. V.
This or similar work has not been previously presented or published.


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