Bronchioles

Bronchioles

The trachea divides into the left main bronchus which supplies the left lung, and the right main bronchus which supplies the right lung. As they enter the lungs these primary bronchi branch into secondary bronchi known as lobar bronchi which supply each lobe of the lung. These in turn give rise to tertiary bronchi (tertiary meaning "third"), known as segmental bronchi which supply each bronchopulmonary segment. The segmentary bronchi subdivide into fourth order, fifth order and sixth order segmental bronchi before dividing into the bronchioles. The bronchioles are histologically distinct from the bronchi in that their walls do not have hyaline cartilage and they have club cells in their epithelial lining. The epithelium of the bronchioles starts as a simple ciliated columnar epithelium and changes to simple ciliated cuboidal epithelium as the bronchioles decreases in size. The diameter of the bronchioles is often said to be less than 1 mm, though this value can range from 5 mm to 0.3 mm. As stated, these bronchioles do not have hyaline cartilage to maintain their patency. Instead, they rely on elastic fibers attached to the surrounding lung tissue for support. The inner lining (lamina propria) of these bronchioles is thin with no glands present, and is surrounded by a layer of smooth muscle. As the bronchioles get smaller they divide into terminal bronchioles. Each bronchiole divides into between 50 and 80 terminal bronchioles. These bronchioles mark the end of the conducting zone, which covers the first division through the sixteenth division of the respiratory tract. Alveoli only become present when the conducting zone changes to the respiratory zone, from the sixteenth through the twenty-third division of the tract.