2025, Volume 18, Issue 4, pp 338 – 343

The impact of external environment on pulmonary development – a morphological evaluation of pulmonary tissue in preterm infants

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding author Raluca Chirculescu, Department of Pathology, Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania. E-mail: ralucachirculescu@gmail.com , raluca.chirculescu@drd.umfcd.ro

Abstract

Preterm birth disrupts the natural progression of pulmonary development, which can trigger functional and morphological consequences that may lead to death or the development of a chronic lung disease. The objective of this research was to evaluate the pulmonary morphological characteristics in 67 preterm neonates who had survived for a minimum of 24 hours. All evaluations were carried out on paraffin-embedded lung tissue, sliced at 5 micrometers, and stained with a standard hematoxylin-eosin stain. From each case, photomicrographs of one square millimeter were assessed, and the quantity of alveoli, the diameter of the alveoli, the thickness of the alveolar septum, and the total thickness of the arteriolar and venular walls were measured. The research findings revealed that prolonged oxygen therapy has an impact on the density of alveoli per square millimeter in premature infants, regardless of their gestational age at birth. Additionally, neonates with lobar lung abnormalities exhibit a reduced number of alveoli per square millimeter. Moreover, preterm neonates delivered at extreme gestational ages demonstrated a notably reduced alveolar diameter compared to those born at more advanced gestational ages, and infants who developed bronchopulmonary dysplasia may exhibit increased alveolar septal thickness compared to other newborns.

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About this article

PMC ID: 12094313
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2025-0045

Article Publishing Date (print): 4 2025
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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