[Changes in the lungs in diabetes mellitus]

Abstract

Morphological examinations in the lungs in patients with diabetes mellitus of different degrees of severity and duration (28 autopsy observations) were carried out. Diabetic microangiopathy in the lungs was found to involve the capillaries of alveolar septa and arterioles as well as pleural arterioles, and is manifested by plasmorrhagia, insudation, thickening of basal membranes and hyalinosis of the vessels. Moreover, intraseptal nodules, granulomas in small artery walls, focal proteinosis develop in the lungs followed by sclerosis of the microcirculatory bed vessels and centrilobular emphysema. All these comprise a favourable background for the development of pneumonias which, along with pulmonary-cardiac insufficiency are one of the most frequent causes of death of patients with diabetes mellitus.