Bronchiectasis

(brong-ke-ek’ -tas-is) \fipoy- ^oc, the windpipe; e/craaic, dilatation]. Dilatation of the walls of the bronchi. It occurs in chronic bronchitis, in fibroid pneumonia, and tuberculosis of the lung. It may involve a tube uniformly, producing the cylindric form; or it may occur irregularly in sacs or pockets, — the sacculated form. The characteristic symptom of bronchiectasis is paroxysmal coughing, with the expectoration of large quantities of mucopurulent, often fetid, matter. Cavernous breathing may be heard over the dilated tubes. 159