General and Systemic Histopathology, C601&C602
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The thickening of the
pleura is quite striking here. What do you make of the pigmented material
in this section? See this slide with the virtual microscope. |
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This slide shows a profoundly thickened and scarred pleural surface. This is the end stage of a pleuritis and is likely years old. The original pleuritis probably was the result of a bacterial pneumonia. Observe the highly collagenized scar tissue with a relative paucity of inflammatory infiltrate. This scarred pleura very likely produced an impairment in chest wall expansion and thereby probably had an effect on pulmonary function. Also note the lung tissue adjacent to the scarred pleura. The air sacks are enlarged and there is some interstitial fibrosis as well. These are representative changes of emphysema. |