Plastic Bronchitis

Bronchial casts have been found to consist of mucin and the name fibrinous bronchitis should be discarded in favor of plastic bronchitis.

These casts have features in common with those found in subjects suffering from asthma, especially status asthmaticus.

Four case histories are presented.

The condition is the resultant of a variety of different stimuli in a person with particular diathesis.

Prognosis is often that of the underlying condition, though the casts themselves may give rise to recurrent acute inflammatory episodes and, in addition, scattered areas of bronchiectasis.

As the fundamental cause of the increased coagulability of the bronchial mucin is unknown, the condition must be treated symptomatically.