Chronic Bronchitis
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This slide compares a normal bronchus (left) with a bronchus from a patient with chronic bronchitis (right). Chronic bronchitis is defined clinically, but morphologically is characterized by hypertrophy and hyperplasia of submucosal glands. This change can be quantitated by the Reid Index, which is the ratio of the thickness of the submucosal glands divided by the bronchial wall thickness (measured from the inner perichondrium to the basement membrane).