[External respiratory function in patients with primary pulmonary emphysema etiologically related to alpha...

To improve the diagnosis of primary lung emphysema etiologically linked with alpha-trypsin deficiency, the authors provide the results of a detailed clinico-functional study of 6 patients with an appreciable deficiency of this enzyme. According to the clinical and functional signs, all the patients were diagnosed to have a typical, pronounced lung emphysema. Therefore, the measurement of the alpha-antitrypsin content plays the crucial part in differential diagnosis of primary (hereditary determined) and secondary (obstructive) emphysema.