[The clinical and structural-metabolic characteristics of atrophic forms of chronic bronchitis].

A clinical-morphological study of bronchobiopsies from 78 patients with endoscopic picture of atrophic endobronchitis was carried out. Two forms of morphogenesis of chronic atrophic process in the bronchial mucosa are distinguished: primary dystrophic and primary inflammatory. Primary dystrophic bronchopathy is a clinical manifestations of the first form which presents structurally and functionally as primary dystrophy and atrophy of the bronchial mucosa in combination with sclerosis of the lamina propria in a sharp decrease of synthetic processes in bronchial epitheliocytes as indicated by the data of autoradiography. The primary inflammatory form of atrophic process has clinical symptoms typical for inflammatory process and is characterized by gradual reorganization in the bronchial wall and by maintaining sufficiently high level of metabolic reactions in bronchial epitheliocytes.