Question

Timothy has been having difficulty breathing since he had pneumonia last month. Recently he had severe pain in his chest and back, and his breathing was extremely irregular. The doctor at the emergency room told him that one of the lobes of his lung had collapsed. How could this happen? 1.

Please help. Thank You!!

Answer 1

Pneumonia is an infectious disease caused by bacteria, viruses and even certain fungi. It affects the lungs. As soon as the germs reach the lungs, they affect the air sacs or alveoli. The alveoli become inflammed and filled with fluid which makes it difficult to breathe. Patients recover from pneumonia rapidly on medication and the lungs also recover fully, usually with no lasting damage although, sometimes, there might be a scarring of the lungs leading to bronchiectasis [ a condition where lung airways become damaged, making it hard to clear mucus]

Pneumonia affects the lungs in two ways- it might affect only one part or lobe of the lung [ lobar pneumonia] OR it may be widespread with patches throughout both the lungs [ bronchial pneumonia].

Individual lobes of the lung may collapse due to obstruction in the supplying bronchioles which bring air into the alveoli.

In Timothy's case, blockage of bronchioles is the most probable cause of the collapse of that lung lobe. Build up of mucus in the bronchioles obstructs the flow of air due to which the alveoli have shrunk leading to the lung lobe collapse. So, bronchiectasis could be the reason for the collapse of the lung lobe.