Abstract

Oncocytes were found in the bronchial glands of 30 of 33 lungs in which the left bronchial tree was examined. They were found with similar frequency in the main, upper and lower lobe bronchi. They were found more commonly with increasing age and were most frequent in the collecting duct of the bronchial glands. However, they were absent from the collecting duct in 14 cases. They were not increased in chronic bronchitics. It is unlikely that bronchial oncocytes have a specific function in bronchial gland ducts but they may represent a curious form of degeneration of epithelial cells as do oncocytes in other organs.