Early and Late Changes in the Respiratory System Related to Primary Tuberculosis.

For 15 years Schwartz (1948) has been pointing out the importance of the tracheobronchial lymph nodes in the life cycle of tuberculous infection. However, only lately has the interest in this problem become more general. Tuberculosis of the tracheobronchial lymph nodes may have serious end results because of the intimate relation of these nodes to the bronchial tree and the damage such tuberculous nodes could cause to the airways. Fig. 1 shows the relation of the tracheobronchial lymph nodes to the bronchial tree and the location of the related tuberculous bronchial lesions as seen in our patients (Villar, 1959). In Fig. 2 I have summarized the life history of primary tuberculosis with especial reference to the