Incidence of lung pathology in the dissecting room: a valuable teaching asset

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of lung pathology in 35 cadavers in the dissecting room of the Department of Anatomy at Guy’s Campus, King’s College, London, and to demonstrate the importance of dissection in teaching the anatomy of normal and pathological lungs. After external evaluation of each lung, the lungs were cut sagittally and studied. The features noted included the presence, pleura thickness and adhesiveness, presence of pleural plaques, abnormal lung fissures, masses, pus in the airway and consolidation in the lung parenchyma. In 30 of the 35 pairs of lungs studied at least one had pathology. Half had areas of parenchymal consolidation (18). Bronchi in five cadavers had pus, eight had thickened pleura, three had pleural plaques and another pleural adhesion to the diaphragm. Two cadavers had a lung removed. The main anatomical anomaly was obliterated fissures which were present in five lungs and three vertical left oblique fis-sures due to mass effect of cardiomegaly, hiatus hernia and hepatomegaly. This study demonstrates that dissection is not only an excellent way of studying normal lungs, but also a valuable method for introducing common lung pathologies to the medical student. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of lung pathology in 35 cadavers in the dissecting room of the Department of Anatomy at Guy’s Campus, King’s College, London, and to demonstrate the importance of dissection in teaching the anatomy of normal and pathological lungs. After external evaluation of each lung, the lungs were cut sagittally and studied. The features noted included the presence, pleura thickness and adhesiveness, presence of pleural plaques, abnormal lung fissures, masses, pus in the airway and consolidation in the lung parenchyma. In 30 of the 35 pairs of lungs studied at least one had pathology. Half had areas of parenchymal consolidation (18). Bronchi in five cadavers had pus, eight had thickened pleura, three had pleural plaques and another pleural adhesion to the diaphragm. Two cadavers had a lung removed. The main anatomical anomaly was obliterated fissures which were present in five lungs and three vertical left oblique fis-sures due to mass effect of cardiomegaly, hiatus hernia and hepatomegaly. This study demonstrates that dissection is not only an excellent way of studying normal lungs, but also a valuable method for introducing common lung pathologies to the medical student.