Definition: Bordetella pertussis, the pathogen responsible for whooping cough (pertussis), is a Gram-negative rod that favors the lining of the respiratory tract. Bordetella pertussis is easily transmitted by close contact when secretions (droplets) are expelled during talking, laughing, coughing, and sneezing.
Bordetella pertussis has an incubation period of 7 – 10 days, then the signs and symptoms of whooping cough emerge.
Definition: When absolute air volumes in the lungs must be measured, spirometry is insufficient. Therefore, your doctor may order body plethsmography to get more precise measurements of lung volumes. Body plethsmography can measure residual volume, function residual capacity, and total lung capacity.
During a body plethsmography, the patient sits in an airtight box, inhales or exhales a particular volume, and then a shutter closes off the breathing tube. The patient is then directed to breathe against the shutter’s resistance, causing the chest volume to expand and decompress the air in the lungs. This increase in chest volume reduces the box volume and slightly increases the pressure in the box.
Definition: A biopsy is the removal of a small sample of tissue for examination under a microscope by a pathologist.
There are two types of lung biopsies:
# Surgical
In a lung biopsy, a small piece of lung tissue is removed through a surgical incision in the chest. The abnormal results may indicate cancer, benign tumors, lung diseases, and certain lung infections.
# Non-surgical / Needle
When the abnormal condition is near the surface of the lung, in the tissues surrounding
the lungs, or on the chest wall, a lung biopsy is performed using a biopsy needle.
This is performed when a lung infection is suspected and no other tests have identified the cause of the infection
Definition: Arterial blood gas is the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide carried in arterial blood.
Arterial blood gas analysis is a test in which blood is taken from an artery in your wrist to evaluate how effective your lungs are in bringing oxygen to the blood and removing carbon dioxide from it.
Since arteries lie deeper under the skin than veins, most technicians will inject a local anesthetic prior to drawing blood for the ABG test. Without a local anesthetic, this procedure can be very painful.
If you are taking a blood thinner or any other type of medication that prevents or reduces clotting of the blood, be sure to tell your doctor prior to the procedure.
Source: Coping with COPD by Elaine Fantle Shimberg
Definition: Anticholinergics are used for treating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) because of their ability to relax smooth muscle, thereby widening the airways to the lungs. Anticholinergics are acetylcholine blockers (i.e. they block acetylcholine receptors). Acetylcholine is a chemical, produced by the brain, that causes muscles to contract - it is this movement that causes airway constriction.
Source: DrugDigest.org
Examples: Ipratropium is an anticholinergic
Definition: The bronchial tree is the branches from the main bronchi that penetrate the lungs to deliver air to minute lung tissue responsible for gas exchange.
Source: Lung Cancer by Lorraine Johnston
Thus, there are bronchial asthma and bronchial pneumonia
