Acute and Chronic Bronchitis in Childhood: Cystic Fibrosis

Abstract

The chapter discusses the problems of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of children with acute and chronic bronchitis. All clinical types of acute bronchitis are covered. Special focus is paid on cystic fibrosis—diagnosis, clinical features, and treatment. Affecting the lower respiratory tract (bronchi and bronchioles) is a very common phenomenon in childhood, most often with a viral etiology, sometimes bacterial, atypical, allergic, etc. Children’s bronchi have a small amount of cartilaginous tissue, mainly smooth muscle tissue, and react to various triggers with bronchial spasm and increased mucus secretion. A significant part of pediatric pathology in early childhood is acute inflammatory diseases of the lower respiratory tract.