Abstract
ABSTRACT
The importance of an impaired mucociliary clearance in the respiratory tract for the pathogenesis of chronic lung diseases as chronic bronchitis, asthma, bronchiectasis and lung cancer is evaluated. This is performed mainly by comparing clinical picture, lung function data and mucociliary clearance in these diseases with corresponding data in the Immotile Cilia Syndrome (ICS). This disease may be caused by various defects in the cilia, all of which result in an absent or severely impaired mucociliary transport which makes it an ideal model disease for evaluating the importance of the mucociliary system. From such comparisons it seems probable that impaired mucociliary transport is one major factor for the pathogenesis of several cases of bronchiectasis and of the airways obstruction associated with chronic bronchitis. The role of impaired mucociliary clearance for the pathogenesis of the other lung diseases is still unclear.
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