Abstract

Measurements of the gland thickness and Reid index have been made on bronchi obtained at necropsy on 53 male and 52 female Jamaicans. The mean values for the Reid index and mucous gland thickness obtained were 0·314 and 0·192 mm. for males, and 0·302 and 0·170 mm. for females respectively. No significant increase in value was seen with age, although the data suggest this trend. The results have been compared with data published from Montreal and the same overall Gaussian distribution is seen. This supports the suggestion that the gland measurements in non-bronchitic and bronchitic subjects do not fall into two distinct groups but are part of a continuous distribution. The similarity of the two studies is also of interest as the populations are drawn from two distinct environments, one from a non-industrialized tropical island, the other from a large city in the northern hemisphere.