Epidemiological studies of Chronic Bronchitis/ Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease (CB/COAD) have demonstrated that hypersecretory glandular activity, as weIl as infections, are not the most important risk factors determining the serious decline in lung function in this disease. Instead, inflammatory indices are emerging as characteristic features of the pathology and pathophysiology of CB/COAD. It is possible that continuous inflammatory processes cause structural changes and thus provide the anatomical basis for airway obstruction which, once estab lished, is only partly reversible. We feIt it was timely to gather leading international researchers who could provide critical updates on CB/COAD, its pathology and clinical/ experimental assessments. The latter aspect included not only the fundamentals of airway function but also, and in greater detail, cellular and solute indices which can now be used to determine inflammation in CB/COAD. The meeting was made possible by a grant from Draco/Astra (Sweden and Finland). We particularly acknowledge the expert assistance of Mrs. Eva Engberg in all facets of the present work.
