Abstract

The incidence of pulmonary emphysema in a series of 50 necropsies on male subjects in Glasgow has been investigated. Emphysema was present in 37 lungs (74%) and found in more than trace amounts in 32 lungs (64%). These results are similar to those previously reported from London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff but emphysema in younger men appears to be more severe in Glasgow than in these other cities.

Centrilobular emphysema was the commonest variety, found in 36 of the 50 lungs (72%); it was the only or predominant type in 17 (34%). Panlobular emphysema was found in 25 lungs (50%), but only in 5 (10%) was this the predominant or the only variety. In 15 cases (30%), significant amounts of both centrilobular and panlobular emphysema were present.

Three methods were used to measure emphysema, including the recently introduced method which compares the severity of emphysma on paper-mounted large sections with standard charts arbitrarily graded according to severity. The method of scoring is quick and gave results comparable to those using Heard's method on the barium impregnated slice. It has the added advantage that paper-mounted sections, unlike barium-impregnated slices, are easily stored and thus provide a permanent record.