Abstract
Stereologic techniques were applied to an electronmicroscopic study of random samples of normal lung tissue obtained from nine patients during thoracotomy. Relative fractional volumes of lung components, alveolar and capillary surface areas, surface-to-volume ratios, and arithmetic and harmonic mean thicknesses of the alveolar-capillary membranes were determined and compared with values previously obtained by others for inflated whole lung. Values for fractional volumes and absolute surface area were significantly influenced by changes in lung Inflation imposed by the sampling technique and the use of predicted normal lung volumes for purposes of calculation. However, parameters for alveolar septal structures agreed closely with those obtained for inflated whole lung. Distribution in a volume could not be assessed, but within the limits of this study, there did not appear to be a significant difference in the width of the blood-air barrier between inflated and noninflated states. Stereologic techniques were applied to an electronmicroscopic study of random samples of normal lung tissue obtained from nine patients during thoracotomy. Relative fractional volumes of lung components, alveolar and capillary surface areas, surface-to-volume ratios, and arithmetic and harmonic mean thicknesses of the alveolar-capillary membranes were determined and compared with values previously obtained by others for inflated whole lung. Values for fractional volumes and absolute surface area were significantly influenced by changes in lung Inflation imposed by the sampling technique and the use of predicted normal lung volumes for purposes of calculation. However, parameters for alveolar septal structures agreed closely with those obtained for inflated whole lung. Distribution in a volume could not be assessed, but within the limits of this study, there did not appear to be a significant difference in the width of the blood-air barrier between inflated and noninflated states.
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