Emphysema in Jamaica: a preliminary report

ABSTRACT

A study of the type and degree of emphysema has been carried out at the University Hospital of the West Indies using Gough-Wentworth whole lung sections. The lung tissue was obtained from a series of consecutive, unselected autopsies in 125 adults of both sexes, ages 17 years and over. The results show that both the incidence and severity of emphysematous change is greater in males than in females. The overall incidence of what is gauged to be clinically significant emphysema is similar to findings in temperate countries. Reservation must be taken in this comparison because the material was not compared with any from Europe or North America. It is possible that the disease is caused by factors different from those operating in temperate countries. Alternatively, the emphysema-producing processes in temperate and tropical countries are similar, but in temperate areas, clinical prominence results from secondary infection, which does not occur in Jamaica (AU)