CORRELATION OF STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN CHRONIC PULMONARY EMPHYSEMA

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Abstract
The correlation between extent of emphysema at necropsy and premortem measurements of pulmonary function was studied in 39 patients. A wide span of anatomic severity of emphysema was represented, and most of the patients had respiratory symptoms. A grid method was used to grade the severity of emphysema, and pulmonary function was studied by conventional methods. Very good correlations were found to exist between severity of emphysema and vital capacity, maximal voluntary ventilation, maximal expiratory flow rate, maximal mid-expiratory flow rate, and one-second forced expiratory volume. The grade of emphysema correlated poorly with residual volume, total lung capacity, and the ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity. The findings were consistent with the notion that airway obstruction in emphysema results from destruction of lung parenchyma. However, the results may also be explainable by the high frequency of chronic bronchitis in the patients studied.

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