Particle Analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy With Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis in Pulmonary Pathology Specimens From U.S. Military Service Members Deployed During the Global War on Terror 2002 to 2015

Small airways and airspace inflammation and injury distinguish lung histopathology in deployed military personnel from healthy and diseased lungs

The link between military deployment to Southwest Asia and Afghanistan and risk for lung disease, including bronchiolitis, is increasingly well-recognized. However, histopathologic features that distinguish deployment-related lung diseases from other diseases affecting the small airways and airspaces are uncertain. A computer-based scoring system was developed to characterize surgical lung biopsy findings in 65 soldiers with persistent respiratory symptoms following military deployment ('deployers'). Deployer lung biopsies were compared to those from eight patients with chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (cHP), 10 with smoking-related respiratory bronchiolitis, 11 with autoimmune or post-transplant obliterative bronchiolitis, and 10 normal donor lungs. Upper, middle, and lower lobe-specific findings in deployer samples were analyzed to inform optimum biopsy location choice for future patients.