MICROANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -In emphysema, the inner walls of the lungs’ air sacs (alveoli) are damaged, causing them to eventually rupture. This creates one larger air space instead of many small ones and reduces the surface area available for gas exchange. Emphysema is a lung condition that causes shortness of breath.

Detailed explanation-2: -Emphysema, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, affects the walls of the millions of tiny air sacs in the lungs, which become inflamed and lose elasticity, causing the bronchioles to collapse.

Detailed explanation-3: -Conceptual framework for emphysema. Cigarette smoke causes a progressive disruption of alveolar maintenance and variable degrees of inflammation, driven by the cigarette smoke itself, oxidative stress, or alveolar cell damage.

Detailed explanation-4: -Inflammatory changes associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) initiate the changes in lung mechanical properties that characterize emphysema. Inflammation leads to destruction of elastin, which contributes to lung elasticity, and collagen, which provides tensile strength.

Detailed explanation-5: -In emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs in the lungs are damaged. This causes the air sacs to lose their shape and become floppy. The damage also can destroy the walls of the air sacs, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of many tiny ones.