Studies on tuberculous tracheobronchitis. I. Experimentally established tuberculous bronchial ulcer.

Abstract

From the view point of implanatation theory on the tuberculous tracheobronchitis, tuberculous bronchial ulcer was experimentally estab-lished by attaching tubercle bacilli of human type on the main bronchus of dogs by various methods. 1. In the normal bronchial mucosa, ulceration was not caused by repeated painting of tubercle bacilli on the site twice a week for a period of 5 weeks. 2. Ulceration was produced when bacilli painting was done on the inflammatory or the scratching site previously made on the mucosa. 3. Ulceration was caused always by repeated submucous injections of bacilli but not by a single injection. 4. From these results, locus minolis resistentiae and repeated in-vasions of bacilli are considered to be favourable factors for the develop-ment of tracheobronchial tuberculosis. 5. In case submucous injection with bacilli was tried one to four weeks after an abdominal injection, no marked difference was observed as compared with the case of similar injection without any preliminary procedure. 6. In the group of long period observation after pulmonary injec-tion, mucous epithelial cells of the orifice of the lobe bronchus were found necrotic or partly desquamating due to the attaching of secretion., that brought tubercle bacilli from the pulmonary lesions especially from cavities. Peripheral bronchiolus-wall without cartilage was easily influenced by the surrounding pulmonary lesions, whereas the bronchus with cartilage was hardly affected. 7. When bacilli were painted after applying arsenious-acid paste, there was a marked bronchial stenosis which was mostly cicatricial, while in the case of repeated injections of bacilli, the stenosis was also marked owing to the thickness of mucous membrane and to the swelling of hilar lymph nodes.