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The process of breathing does not fill the alveoli with atmospheric air during each inhalation (about 350 ml per breath), but the inhaled air is carefully diluted and thoroughly mixed with a large volume of gas (about 2.5 liters in adult humans) known as the functional residual capacity which remains in the lungs after each exhalation, and ...
The alveoli are the dead end terminals of the "tree", meaning that any air that enters them has to exit via the same route. A system such as this creates dead space, a volume of air (about 150 ml in the adult human) that fills the airways after exhalation and is breathed back into the alveoli before environmental air reaches them.
Consolidation occurs through accumulation of inflammatory cellular exudate in the alveoli and adjoining ducts. The liquid can be pulmonary edema, inflammatory exudate, pus, inhaled water, or blood (from bronchial tree or hemorrhage from a pulmonary artery).
Almost any type of lung tumor or lung cancer can compress the alveoli and reduce gas exchange capacity. In some cases the tumor will fill the alveoli. [33] Cavitary pneumonia is a process in which the alveoli are destroyed and produce a cavity. As the alveoli are destroyed, the surface area for gas exchange to occur becomes reduced.
Emphysema. Collateral ventilation is a back-up system of alveolar ventilation that can bypass the normal route of airflow when airways are restricted or obstructed. The pathways involved include those between adjacent alveoli (pores of Kohn), between bronchioles and alveoli (canals of Lambert), and those between bronchioles (channels of Martin).
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. [3] [14] Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. [15]
Atelectasis is the partial collapse or closure of a lung resulting in reduced or absence in gas exchange. It is usually unilateral, affecting part or all of one lung. [2] It is a condition where the alveoli are deflated down to little or no volume, as distinct from pulmonary consolidation, in which they are filled with liquid.
Panlobular emphysema, also called panacinar emphysema, affects all of the alveoli in a lobule, and can involve the whole lung or mainly the lower lobes. [ 18 ] [ 24 ] This type of emphysema is associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD or AATD), and Ritalin lung , [ 24 ] and is not related to smoking.