Atelectasis Causes Alveolar Injury in Nonatelectatic Lung Regions

These data support the notion that lung injury associated with atelectasis involves trauma to the distal airways. We provide topographic and biochemical evidence that such distal airway injury is not localized solely to atelectatic areas, but is instead generalized in both atelectatic and nonatelectatic lung regions. In contrast, alveolar injury associated with atelectasis does not occur in those areas that are atelectatic but occurs instead in remote nonatelectatic alveoli.