Inflammation Classification in Respiratory Pathology

Location

• Nasal cavity - rhinitis
• Paranasal sinuses - sinusitis
• Guttural pouch and eustachian tube - eustachitis
• Pharynx - pharyngitis
• Trachea - tracheitis
• Bronchi - bronchitis
• Bronchioles - bronchiolitis
• Lungs - pneumonia/pneumonitis
• Pleura - pleuritis/pleurisy

Type

Grossly many inflammatory processes (eg: response to viral or bacterial infection) in the URT will begin as a serous discharge, and then progress to a catarrhal exudate, and then to purulent/pseudomembranous/haemorrhagic as neutrophils are recruited

• Serous - transparent fluid exudate (acute inflammation)
• Catarrhal - mucous exudation (acute to subacute inflammation)
• Pseudomembranaous - fibrin exudation
• Purulent - pus
• Ulcerative
• Haemorrhagic
• Granulomatous (chronic inflammation)
• Polypoid (chronic inflammation)

Timecourse

• Acute
• Subacute
• Chronic

Causes

• Infectious agent
  • Viral
  • Bacterial
  • Fungal
  • Parasitic
• Trauma or foreign body (eg: grass seed)
• Irritants or allergens
• Neoplasia