Ultrastructural morphometry of the diffusion surface in a case of pulmonary asbestosis.

A combination of electron microscopy and stereologic principles has allowed an evaluation of the contribution of structures in the blood-air barrier to gas exchange across it. In the present study this method was applied to biopsy material from the lungs of a patient with asbestosis. Within the limits of the sampling method, the results of the study are interpreted to indicate that measurable diffusion abnormalities were principally due to changes other than an increase in membrane thickness.