Brown induration

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Brown induration is fibrosis and hemosiderin pigmentation of the lungs due to long standing pulmonary congestion (chronic passive congestion). Occurs with mitral stenosis and left sided heart failure. Pathology: The lung vessels are congested with blood and this leads to pulmonary edema when plasma escapes in alveolar spaces. Rupture of congested capillaries leads to release of hemosiderin from damaged red blood cells. When alveolar macrophages engulf hemosiderin they are called heart failure cells. Death of heart failure cells in their journey back to lung tissue with subsequent hemosiderin release leads to lung fibrosis. [1] [2] [3]

Fibrosis formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue in a reparative or reactive process

Fibrosis is the formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue in a reparative or reactive process. This can be a reactive, benign, or pathological state. In response to injury, this is called scarring, and if fibrosis arises from a single cell line, this is called a fibroma. Physiologically, fibrosis acts to deposit connective tissue, which can interfere with or totally inhibit the normal architecture and function of the underlying organ or tissue. Fibrosis can be used to describe the pathological state of excess deposition of fibrous tissue, as well as the process of connective tissue deposition in healing. Defined by the pathological accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, fibrosis results in scarring and thickening of the affected tissue, it is in essence an exaggerated wound healing response which interferes with normal organ function.

Hemosiderin

Hemosiderin or haemosiderin is an iron-storage complex. The breakdown of heme gives rise to biliverdin and iron. The body then traps the released iron and stores it as hemosiderin in tissues. Hemosiderin is also generated from the abnormal metabolic pathway of ferritin.

Pulmonary edema fluid accumulation in the air spaces and parenchyma of the lungs

Pulmonary edema is fluid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause respiratory failure. It is due to either failure of the left ventricle of the heart to remove blood adequately from the pulmonary circulation, or an injury to the lung parenchyma or vasculature of the lung. Treatment is focused on three aspects: firstly improving respiratory function, secondly, treating the underlying cause, and thirdly avoiding further damage to the lung. Pulmonary edema, especially acute, can lead to fatal respiratory distress or cardiac arrest due to hypoxia. It is a cardinal feature of congestive heart failure. The term edema is from the Greek οἴδημα, from οἰδέω.

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Pulmonary heart disease congestive heart failure that involves a failure of the right side of the heart and is characterized by an enlargement of the right ventricle of the heart as a response to increased resistance or high blood pressure in the lungs

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Asbestosis pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers

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Hemolytic anemia is a form of anemia due to hemolysis, the abnormal breakdown of red blood cells (RBCs), either in the blood vessels or elsewhere in the human body. It has numerous possible consequences, ranging from relatively harmless to life-threatening. The general classification of hemolytic anemia is either inherited or acquired. Treatment depends on the cause and nature of the breakdown.

Pulmonary hypertension hypertension characterized by an increase of blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein or pulmonary capillaries

Pulmonary hypertension is a condition of increased blood pressure within the arteries of the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath, syncope, tiredness, chest pain, swelling of the legs, and a fast heartbeat. The condition may make it difficult to exercise. Onset is typically gradual.

Fontan procedure

The Fontan procedure or Fontan–Kreutzer procedure is a palliative surgical procedure used in children with univentricular hearts. It involves diverting the venous blood from the inferior vena cava (IVC) and superior vena cava (SVC) to the pulmonary arteries without passing through the morphologic right ventricle; i.e., the systemic and pulmonary circulations are placed in series with the functional single ventricle. The procedure was initially performed 1968 by Francis Fontan and Eugene Baudet, and further described in 1973 by Guillermo Kreutzer.

Atelectasis collapse or closure of a lung resulting in reduced or absent gas exchange

Atelectasis is the collapse or closure of a lung resulting in reduced or absent gas exchange. It is usually unilateral, affecting part or all of one lung. It is a condition where the alveoli are deflated down to little or no volume, as distinct from pulmonary consolidation, in which they are filled with liquid. It is often called a collapsed lung, although that term may also refer to pneumothorax.

Chest radiograph

A chest radiograph, called a chest X-ray (CXR), or chest film, is a projection radiograph of the chest used to diagnose conditions affecting the chest, its contents, and nearby structures. Chest radiographs are the most common film taken in medicine.

Lobar pneumonia

Lobar pneumonia is a form of pneumonia characterized by inflammatory exudate within the intra-alveolar space resulting in consolidation that affects a large and continuous area of the lobe of a lung.

Kerley lines are a sign seen on chest radiographs with interstitial pulmonary edema. They are thin linear pulmonary opacities caused by fluid or cellular infiltration into the interstitium of the lungs. They are named after Irish neurologist and radiologist Peter Kerley.

Idiopathic pulmonary haemosiderosis (IPH) is a lung disease of unknown cause that is characterized by alveolar capillary bleeding and accumulation of haemosiderin in the lungs. It is rare, with an incidence between 0.24 and 1.23 cases per million people.

Right ventricular hypertrophy

Right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) is a condition defined by an abnormal enlargement of the cardiac muscle surrounding the right ventricle. The right ventricle is one of the four chambers of the heart. It is located towards the lower-end of the heart and it receives blood from the right atrium and pumps blood into the lungs.

Congestive hepatopathy Human disease

Congestive hepatopathy, is liver dysfunction due to venous congestion, usually due to congestive heart failure. The gross pathological appearance of a liver affected by chronic passive congestion is "speckled" like a grated nutmeg kernel; the dark spots represent the dilated and congested hepatic venules and small hepatic veins. The paler areas are unaffected surrounding liver tissue. When severe and longstanding, hepatic congestion can lead to fibrosis; if congestion is due to right heart failure, it is called cardiac cirrhosis.

DLCO or TLCO is the extent to which oxygen passes from the air sacs of the lungs into the blood. Commonly, it refers to the test used to determine this parameter. It was introduced in 1909.

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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a type of chronic scarring lung disease characterized by a progressive and irreversible decline in lung function. Symptoms typically include gradual onset of shortness of breath and a dry cough. Other changes may include feeling tired, and abnormally large and dome shaped finger and toenails. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, pneumonia, or pulmonary embolism.

Usual interstitial pneumonia

Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) is a form of lung disease characterized by progressive scarring of both lungs. The scarring (fibrosis) involves the supporting framework (interstitium) of the lung. UIP is thus classified as a form of interstitial lung disease.

Siderophage

A siderophage is a hemosiderin-containing macrophage. Heart failure cells are siderophages generated in the alveoli of patients with left heart failure or chronic pulmonary edema, when the high pulmonary blood pressure causes red cells to pass through the vascular wall. Siderophages are not specific of heart failure. They are present wherever red blood cells encounter macrophages.

Hemosiderosis Iron metabolism disease that has material basis in an accumulation of hemosiderin, an iron-storage complex, resulting in iron overload

Hemosiderosis is a form of iron overload disorder resulting in the accumulation of hemosiderin.

Alveolar capillary dysplasia (ACD) is a rare, congenital diffuse lung disease characterized by abnormal blood vessels in the lungs that cause highly elevated pulmonary blood pressure and an inability to effectively oxygenate and remove carbon dioxide from the blood. ACD typically presents in newborn babies within hours of birth as rapid and labored breathing, blue-colored lips or skin, quickly leading to respiratory failure and death. Atypical forms of ACD have been reported with initially milder symptoms and survival of many months before the onset of respiratory failure or lung transplantation.

References

  1. Stedman's Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing
  2. Pathology 3rd edition, BRS series, Schneider et al
  3. Idiopathic pulmonary haemosiderosis (essential brown induration of the lung), Wyllie, W.G et al