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The trachea can be affected by inflammation or infection, usually as a result of a viral illness affecting other parts of the respiratory tract, such as the larynx and bronchi, called croup, that can result in a cough. Infection with bacteria usually affects the trachea only and can cause narrowing or even obstruction.
Respiratory epithelium, or airway epithelium, [1] is a type of ciliated columnar epithelium found lining most of the respiratory tract as respiratory mucosa, [2] where it serves to moisten and protect the airways.
The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of conducting air to the alveoli for the purposes of gas exchange in mammals. [1] The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa. [2]
The trachea is an area of dead space: the oxygen-poor air it contains at the end of exhalation is the first air to re-enter the posterior air sacs and lungs. In comparison to the mammalian respiratory tract, the dead space volume in a bird is, on average, 4.5 times greater than it is in mammals of the same size.
One of the most common causes is Staphylococcus aureus and often follows a recent viral upper respiratory infection. Bacterial tracheitis is a rare complication of influenza infection. [ 4 ] It is the most serious in young children, possibly because of the relatively small size of the trachea that gets easily blocked by swelling.
The lamina propria is a thin layer of connective tissue that forms part of the moist linings known as mucous membranes or mucosae, which line various tubes in the body, such as the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract, and the urogenital tract.
The nasal mucosa also traps particles preventing their entry further into the tract. In the rest of the respiratory tract, particles of different sizes become deposited along different parts of the airways. Larger particles are trapped higher up in the larger bronchi. As the airways become narrower only smaller particles can pass.
This typically clears particles from the bronchi and trachea, the tubes that feed air to lung tissue from the nose and mouth. [1] The larynx (voice box) and carina (at the bottom of the trachea, as it splits into bronchi) are especially sensitive. Cough receptors in the surface cells of the respiratory tract are also sensitive to chemicals.