This review deals with the history of tuberculosis from the medical and social perspectives. It presents tuberculosis as an old disease with traces of it found on the human body…

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The most common manifestation of the disease is pulmonary tuberculosis but other organs can also be affected (so called…

Cough, dyspnea, chest pain, wheezing, hemoptysis, hemoptoe, abnormal breathing pattterns and sputum are the main symptoms of lower respiratory tract disease, which can easily be recognized via a thorough examination…

Atypical bacteria represent common causative agents of community-acquired pneumonia. Most frequently, these are Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Chlamydia psittaci, Legionella pneumophila, and in our enviroment also Coxiella burnetii. In the…

Pulmonary hypertension is a pathophysiological and a haemodynamic state that can be observed in different clinical conditions. Although they all share elevated pressure in the pulmonary circulation, the underlying mechanism,…

Pneumothorax is the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity. According to pathophysiology, there are several distinct entities, namely spontaneous (primary or secondary), traumatic or iatrogenic. Tension pneumothorax…

Acute pulmonary thromboembolism is a complication of deep venous thrombosis. The incidence of pulmonary embolism increases with age and is higher in persons with risk factors for deep venous thrombosis.…

The incidence of bronchial asthma is very high in paediatric as well as in the adult population. Nevertheless, life style changes and adequate pharmacotherapy enables asthma patients to live normal,…

Cough is an important disease symptom. Causes of cough are respiratory tract infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung cancer, bronchiectasie, and many other lung diseases, but also smoking, airway…

Respiratory diseases are one of the major public health problems as they represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Among more than 40 different respiratory diseases the highest global…

Lung cancer is the most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women. According to World Health Organization classification, lung carcinomas are morphologically classified into…

Primary malignant tumours of the pleura are classified into malignant mesotheliomas, mesenchymal tumours and primary lymphomas. The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma is increasing throughout most of the world and…

Pneumoconioses are still a common cause of chronic lung disease. The term »pneumoconiosis« refers to reactions of the lungs to inhaled mineral or organic dusts, and resultant alteration in their…

In the third and final part of our review, we thoroughly and quantitatively analyse the influence of alveolar dead space ventilation and shunt on the pulmonary exchange of gases and…

Metabolically produced CO2 diffuses into tissue capillaries and flows convectively via the bloodstream into alveolar capillaries. There it diffuses across the alveolocapillary membrane into the alveoli, from where it is…

Inspired air flows down the airways to reach the alveoli. Along this way, the temperature of this relatively small volume of air equilibrates with body temperature and becomes saturated with…

In the article, the surface and the internal structures of the lungs are explained and illustrated, as well as their topographic relations. The courses of the parietal pleura, pleural recesses…