DEFINITION
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory
lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. Symptoms
include breathing difficulty, cough, mucus (sputum) production and
wheezing.
Pathophysiology
Due to the etiology
Inflammation
Activation of
neutrophils
Inactivation of
proteases
Tisssue destruction
Bullectomy is a procedure where doctors remove one or more of the very large
bullae or blebs from the lungs. Bullae are large air sacs that form from hundreds of
destroyed alveoli.
These air spaces can become so large that they crowd out the better functioning
lung and interfere with breathing. For those people, removing the destroyed air
sacs improves breathing.
Lung Volume Reduction Surgery (LVRS) is a procedure to help people with severe
emphysema affecting the upper lung lobes
Lung transplantation