How are pulmonary bullae formed?

Bullae are actually the phenomenon of bullous emphysema, which we also need to pay attention to, because it can easily lead to the blockage of small bronchi, seriously affecting our breathing problems. Moreover, the occurrence of this disease is often caused by some occupational reasons. For example, coal miners are most likely to develop this disease. So now let us take a closer look at the formation of bullae.

If you want to better solve this problem, you cannot ignore the health of your lungs in your daily life. If you often do things that affect your health at work, you need to pay more attention to the prevention of these diseases.

The wall of the bulla is very thin, composed of flat epithelial cells of the alveoli, or it may be just a fibrous membrane. It can coexist with various types of emphysema and is common in paraseptal or paralobular emphysema. It may be accompanied by carbonyl deposition, such as coal miners' pneumoconiosis, or not accompanied by carbonyl deposition, such as scar tissue emphysema. Bullae are divided into three types according to their pathological morphology.

Type I: Narrow-necked bullae, which protrude from the lung surface and are connected to the lung by a narrow band. Because of the valve obstruction formed by bronchial scar tissue, the volume of the bullae increases due to alveolar collateral ventilation and gas retention. Type I bullae have thin walls and are often formed by pleura and connective tissue. They often occur in the middle lobe or lingula, and are also common in the upper lobe. The presence of bullae can be detected on a routine chest X-ray because of the high negative pressure in the chest cavity in this area.

Type II: Broad-based superficial bullae, located on the lung surface, between the visceral pleura and the emphysematous lung tissue, connective tissue septa can be seen in the bulla cavity, but it does not constitute the wall of the bullae and can be seen in any part of the lung.

Type III: Broad-based deep bullae, similar in structure to type II, but deeper in location and surrounded by emphysematous lung tissue; bullae may extend to the hilum and may be seen in any lobe of the lung.

When the bullae increase in size, the surrounding lung tissue is compressed and causes lung displacement. The compressed lung tissue appears as a shadow of increased density around the bullae on the chest X-ray. The above three types are all seen in chronic bronchitis. Centrilobular emphysema is not complicated by bullae. Lower lobe bullae are common in coal miners with complications of pneumoconiosis and confluent silicosis.

If pulmonary bullae are not treated in time, it will cause breathing difficulties. If it is serious, it may even be serious enough to affect people's life and health. Therefore, when facing this problem, we must not ignore it easily. When some abnormal phenomena are discovered, treatment must be actively sought.