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A pulmonary alveolus (pl. alveoli; from Latin alveolus 'little cavity'), also called an air sac or air space, is one of millions of hollow, distensible cup-shaped cavities in the lungs where pulmonary gas exchange takes place. [1] Oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide at the blood–air barrier between the alveolar air and the pulmonary ...
Diffuse alveolar damage (DAD): an acute lung condition with the presence of hyaline membranes. [2] These hyaline membranes are made up of dead cells, surfactant, and proteins. [1] The hyaline membranes deposit along the walls of the alveoli, where gas exchange typically occurs, thereby making gas exchange difficult.
Micrograph showing hemosiderin-laden alveolar macrophages, as seen in a pulmonary hemorrhage. H&E stain.. An alveolar macrophage, pulmonary macrophage, (or dust cell) is a type of macrophage, a professional phagocyte, found in the airways and at the level of the alveoli in the lungs, but separated from their walls.
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), also known as bronchoalveolar washing, is a diagnostic method of the lower respiratory system in which a bronchoscope is passed through the mouth or nose into an appropriate airway in the lungs, with a measured amount of fluid introduced and then collected for examination.
The tendency for the alveoli to collapse is therefore almost the same at the end of exhalation as at the end of inhalation. Thirdly, the surface tension of the curved watery layer lining the alveoli tends to draw water from the lung tissues into the alveoli. Surfactant reduces this danger to negligible levels, and keeps the alveoli dry. [6] [37]
The major function of the lungs is gas exchange between the lungs and the blood. [67] The alveolar and pulmonary capillary gases equilibrate across the thin blood–air barrier . [ 34 ] [ 68 ] [ 69 ] This thin membrane (about 0.5 –2 μm thick) is folded into about 300 million alveoli, providing an extremely large surface area (estimates ...
In effect, the single arterial pCO 2 value averages out the different pCO 2 values in the different alveoli, and so makes the Bohr equation useable. The quantity of CO 2 exhaled from the healthy alveoli is diluted by the air in the conducting airways (anatomic dead space) and by gas from alveoli that are over-ventilated in relation to their ...
They also equalize the pressure in adjacent alveoli and, combined with increased distribution of surfactant, thus play an important role in prevention of collapse of the lung. [ 6 ] Unlike adults, in children these inter-alveolar connections are poorly developed which aids in limiting the spread of infection.