[Relationship between the pathomorphological characteristics of the lungs and surfactant properties in some forms of chronic pneumonia].

The minimum surface tension (STmin) and the content of total lipids (TL) and phospholipids (PL) in a surfactant obtained by differential centrifugation of extracts from 56 fragments of lungs resected from 48 patients with segmentary suppurations and bronchiectasia were correlated with the results of morphological and histochemical studies. The controls consisted of 5 lungs from the subjects dying of accidental causes. Areas of interstitial pneumosclerosis, atelectasis and carnification were found to have a high STmin and to contain less than 1 mg of PL per 1 g of the lung tissue, whereas foci of emphysema had a lower STmin and a higher content of PL. These parameters are inversely related. Possible causes of the change of the surfactant condition in chronic pneumonia and practical importance of its examination in resected lungs for a diverse evaluation of the pathological process and the effectiveness of preoperational therapy are discussed.