[Tissue immunopathology methods for the diagnosis of bronchopulmonary diseases]

The authors draw attention to the diagnostic value of tissue immunopathology methods in numerous bronchopulmonary diseases. Having emphasized the strict technical requirements and difficulties of these methods--all obstacles that are necessary for an accurate evaluation of the lesion--they use concrete examples to demonstrate the usefulness of extra-thoracic, skin or muscle biopsies to diagnose some systemic diseases, such as lupus erythematosus or Churg and Strauss syndrome. They also refer to bronchial biopsies which provide information on the aetiology and pathogeny of adult asthma, and to the prognostic and therapeutic value of collagen studies in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.