60 Bronchial Catarrh. 



place after a few days. Broncliiolitis, liowever, is characterized 

 by a slower course and is frequently accompanied by broncho- 

 pneumonia, which not uncommonly leads to a fatal issue; 

 bronchiolitis, however, may alone be the cause of death. 



Chronic catarrh always lasts several weeks and may last 

 a number of months and even years. This depends upon 

 whether the catarrh is a primary or a secondary atfection, and 

 under what conditions the patient lives. In protracted cases, 

 acute exacerbations are occasionally seen, also attacks of suffo- 

 cation, and these may lead to a great impoverishment of the 

 condition of the patient. 



-■•>■-' Diagnosis. The diagnosis of bronchial catarrh meets with 

 no difficulties, the presence of rales or of whistling or purring 

 sounds being characteristic. One also hears rales in edema of 

 the lungs and in pulmonary hemorrhage, but these atfections 

 come on suddenly with very grave symptoms and generally with 

 a foamy or hemorrhagic nasal secretion. The character of the 

 rales and the degree of respiratory difficulty point to the af- 

 fected bronchi, while the onset and course of the disease indi- 

 cate its acute or chronic character. It is, however, sometimes 

 difficult to determine whether a bronchial catarrh is primary or 

 secondary in character. Only a very careful examination of 

 all organs can secure against error. The absence of symptoms 

 pointing to any other disease speaks in favor of a primary 

 bronchial catarrh, and the absence of metallic rales, aside from 

 the rare cases of bronchiectasias, as well as the generall}^ f avor- 

 al)le course, likewise speak in favor of primary catarrh, while 

 high fever and great difficulty in respiration point to an affec- 

 tion of the lungs. However, catarrh of the finest bronchioles 

 also leads to symptoms similar to those last mentioned, so 

 that it is sometimes difficult to decide whether we are dealing 

 with a simple bronchial catarrh or whether catarrhal pneumonia 

 is already present. 



Prognosis. Idiopathic catarrh of the larger bronchi is in 

 general a benign affection. Catarrh of the finer bronchi, how- 

 ever, may in itself lead to suffocation, or it nuiy become com- 

 plicated with catarrhal i^neumonia. Since experience has shown 

 that this form of catarrh preferably affects very young or very 

 old and debilitated animals, the prognosis in such animals is 

 always dubious and is decidedly unfavorable in the presence of 

 intense dyspnea and high fever. Diffuse bronchitis, which is 

 seen after conflagrations, is likewise of very grave significance. 

 Enzootic bronchial catarrh usually takes a favorable course 

 and only comparatively rarely leads to death of the animals, 

 usually after a complicating jjneumonia or pleuritis has devel- 

 oped; even these latter complications do not exclude the possi- 

 bility of recovery. In enzootic bronchial catarrh of cattle of 

 commerce Schmidt observed a mortality of 30%. 



