Emphysema

(em-fiz-e’ ’-mah) [eLKpvaduv, to inflate]. A condition in which there is air or gas in normally airle ti ues or an exce of air in ti ues normally containing a certain quantity of it. E., Atrophic, senile emphysema of the lung, characterized by a diminution in size of the lung. E., Cutaneous, the presence of air or gas in the connective ti ues beneath the skin. E., Gangrenous. See Edema, Malignant. E., Hypertrophic. See £., Pulmonary. E., Interstitial, the presence of gas in the connective ti ue of a part, particularly in the connective ti ue of the lung. E., Pulmonary, a condition of the lungs characterized by a permanent dilatation of the alveoli with atrophy of the alveolar walls and the blood ve els, resulting in a lo of the normal elasticity of the lung-ti ue. It is a ociated with dyspnea, with hacking cough, and defective aeration of the blood. The chest becomes round or barrel-shaped, the right side of the heart hypertrophies, the abdominal viscera are displaced downward. The causes are a le ened resistance on the part of the lung, which may be inherited or acquired, and a distending force, which is usually expiratory in character, and consists in chronic cough, the blowing of wind-instruments, or other labor throwing a strain on the respiratory function. E., Substantial, a synonym of £., Pulmonary. E., Vesicular, that due to dilatation of the air-vesicles. 258