The phenomenon of collateral ventilation is defined as ventilation of alveolar structures through passages or channels that bypass the normal airways. Such bypassing structures can be interalveolar, bronchiole-alveolar, interbronchiole, and interlobar. Collateral ventilation structures seem to be prominent in human lungs with trapped air and emphysema. In healthy human lungs normally no relevant collateral ventilation can be detected. In emphysematic lungs the ventilation through collateral channels can probably improve gas exchange mechanisms. The phenomenon of collateral ventilation explains several clinical observations in human lungs such as the absence of atalectasis following complete bronchial obstruction, e. g. after foreign body aspiration or tumour. The various results after bronchoscopic implantation of one-way endobronchial valves as a new technique for treating emphysema can also be explained by collateral ventilation. Understanding collateral ventilation is of high importance for clinicians, those working in the field of physiology of emphysema in human lungs and may be central to planning new bronchoscopic techniques for treating emphysema. The paper offers an overview of history, physiology and the relevance for lung volume reduction methods. Moreover, a new imaging technique to demonstrate collateral ventilation in vivo is described.