Morphological changes of tracheobranchial mucosa in dogs caused by breathing through a surgically produced tracheal fistula

Abstract

The author studied the morphological changes developing in the tracheobronchial mucosa following a surgical tracheal fistula. The experiments were carried out on 19 dogs which were divided into 2 groups. Group I included 10 dogs, in which specimens were obtained by bronchoscopy; in group II, 9 dogs, specimens were obtained directly. Histological examinations were carried out by Gomori's reaction and hematoxylin-eosin staining method. Histo-chemical tests included PAS reaction and alcian blue stain. The results showed that after 24 hours morphological changes mainly involved the tracheal mucosa and their characteristic feature was the variety of forms of lesions of the epithelium covering the mucosa. The longer the duration of the fistula the more these changes increased in intensity and involved further parts of the tracheobronchial tree. The author also took into account the living conditions in the kennels where the dogs were kept following the tracheostomy. The changes observed were compared with those reported by other authors and the correlation between the occurrence of these changes and the environmental conditions and length of breathing through the surgically produced fistula was analysed.