Chronic bronchitis overview
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
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Overview
Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchi (medium-size airways) in the lungs. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Chronic bronchitis is not necessarily caused by infection and is generally part of a syndrome called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); it is defined clinically as a persistent cough that produces sputum (phlegm) and mucus, for at least three months in two consecutive years.
Historical perspective
The terms chronic bronchitis and emphysema were formally defined at the CIBA guest symposium of physicians in 1959. COPD has probably always existed but has been called by different names in the past. Bonet described a condition of “voluminous lungs” in 1679. Matthew Baillie illustrated an emphysematous lung in 1789 and described the destructive character of the condition. The term COPD was first used by William Briscoe in 1965 and has gradually overtaken other terms to become established today as the preferred name for this disease.