Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Measuring Carbon Content in Airway Macrophages Exposed to Carbon-Containing Particulate Matters
Published on: July 12, 2024
[Charcoal smoke causes bronchial anthracosis and COPD]
Hans Huttner1, Michael Beyer, Joachim Bargon
1Medizinische Klinik, St. Elizabethen-Krankenhaus, Ginnheimer Strasse 3, 60487 Frankfurt am Main.
Background:
Bronchopulmonary disease due to inhalation of smoke from open woodfires represents a major health problem in developing countries. Due to increasing migration such patients also present to medical services in Europe.
Case Report And Discussion:
An 84-year-old Afghan housewife who never smoked nor has a history of exposure to inorganic dusts, presents with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in association with bronchial anthracosis and stenosis of a bronchus. The complaints are found to be caused by chronic inhalation of smoke from an open woodfire which was used for cooking. The main complaints of "woodsmoke-associated lung disease" are cough und dyspnea with bronchial obstruction. Radiology and bronchoscopy usually reveal changes which are similar to pneumoconiosis of miners but without patients' relevant exposure. There is a frequent association of anthracotic bronchial stenosis and infection with tuberculosis.
Conclusion:
Since patients rarely recognize the risks of woodsmoke inhalation, they hardly report their exposure. Thus, the anamnesis is crucial to establish the right diagnosis and guide the patient to the appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease III: Chronic Bronchitis Features
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-II: Pathophysiology
Chronic Inflammation
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease I: Introduction
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Smoking is a primary risk factor for COPD, with over 80% of patients having a history of it. Patients typically experience progressive dyspnea or labored breathing, frequent coughing, and recurrent pulmonary infections. Many eventually succumb to respiratory failure, characterized by...
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease II: Emphysema
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease IV: Clinical Manifestations

