CAPILLARY AND CELLULAR CHANGES IN ALVEOLAR WALLS OF EMPHYSEMATOUS HORSE LUNGS - A QUANTITATIVE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY

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Abstract
The alveolar septa of lungs from horses with early, spontaneous emphysema were studied by quantitative electron microscope techniques. The findings were compared with results from similar studies on normal horse lungs. The emphysematous alveolar walls had fewer capillaries, a greater number of jores, and a greater number of osmiophilic inclusion bodies per centimeter of alveolar wall than did the control septa. The diseased septa contained a greater amount of collagen and abnormally large alveolar cells. There was a greater percentage of interstitial cells and large alveolar cells, but a smaller percentage of small epithelial cells and endothelial cells in the emphysematous septa than in the control septa. The structural changes in these lungs probably result in a greater compliance at low lung volumes and a decreased diffusion capacity. The smaller density of capillaries in the remaining alveolar walls in these lungs with early emphysematous changes, and the total loss of capillaries that occurs with alveolar septal atrophy, may have etiologic as well as functional significance.