Lung and Breathing Terms

The bronchi are the two large air passages branching from the trachea, one into each lung, that form the lungs' main airway entrance.

Bronchial describes anything relating to the bronchi, the large airways connecting the windpipe to the lungs, as in bronchial asthma or bronchial breath sounds.

Cancer that forms in tissues of the bronchi (large air passages in the lungs including those that lead to the lungs from the windpipe).

A procedure in which cells are taken from the inside of the airways that lead to the lungs.

A procedure in which cells are taken from the inside of the airways that lead to the lungs.

A procedure in which cells are taken from the inside of the airways that lead to the lungs.

A bronchiole is one of the smallest airway branches in the lungs, carrying air from the larger bronchi toward the air sacs where gas exchange occurs.

Bronchiolitis obliterans is a rare, irreversible lung condition in which scarring narrows or blocks the smallest airways, sometimes following transplant or toxic exposure.

One word covers a self limiting cough after a virus and a lasting change in the airways caused by years of irritation.

A medicine that relaxes the muscle squeezing the airways, so a narrowed breathing tube opens up again.

An older umbrella name for lung cancer arising in the airway lining, still met in pathology reports and textbooks.

A bronchoscope is a thin, lighted instrument passed into the airway to directly view and sample tissue from the trachea and bronchi.

A procedure that uses a bronchoscope to examine the inside of the trachea, bronchi (air passages that lead to the lungs), and lungs.

A bronchus is one of the two large airways connecting the trachea to a lung, continuing the path air follows into the smaller airways.

A slow neuroendocrine tumor named for looking less dangerous than cancer, a description that has not aged well.

Cardiopulmonary describes anything involving both the heart and lungs, which work together to circulate blood and exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The fork in the airway, and the reason an inhaled object almost always ends up in the right lung rather than the left.

A chemotherapy combination used to treat endometrial, ovarian, head and neck cancers, and non-small cell lung cancer that has spread.

The controlled release of energy from food inside a cell, captured as ATP rather than lost all at once as heat.

A procedure in which a tube is inserted into the chest to view the tissues and organs in the area between the lungs and between the breastbone and heart.