Chronic bronchitis

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 18 Aug 2021

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Weerakkody Y, Bell D, Di Muzio B, et al. Chronic bronchitis. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-24890

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-24890

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/24890

rID:

24890

Article created:

18 Sep 2013, Yuranga Weerakkody ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.

View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures

Last revised:

18 Aug 2021, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no recorded disclosures.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Revisions:

9 times, by 5 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Chest

Tags:

cases

Synonyms:

Chronic bronchial inflammation
Chronic bronchitis (CB)

Chronic bronchitis is most commonly defined as the presence of productive cough for three months in two successive years in a patient in whom other causes of chronic cough, such as tuberculosis, lung cancer and heart failure, have been excluded. It can be an important pathological component of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), although it is often considered as a distinct phenotype.

Persistent productive cough for many years without any additional respiratory impairments, but eventually dyspnoea on exertion develops. After some time other signs of COPD may appear, including hypercapnia, hypoxaemia and mild cyanosis. Long-standing severe chronic bronchitis commonly leads to cor pulmonale and heart failure ⁴.

Pathology

Chronic bronchitis most often results from overproduction and hypersecretion of mucus by goblet cells. The mechanism is not entirely clear but is linked to both hypertrophy of submucosal glands (Reid index) and increased number of goblet cells which are thought to be the protective reaction to tobacco smoke or other pollutants ⁴. This can, in turn, lead to worsening airflow obstruction by luminal obstruction of small airways, epithelial remodelling, and alteration of airway surface tension predisposing to collapse.