View source for Pores of Kohn

The '''pores of Kohn''' (also known as '''interalveolar connections''' or '''alveolar pores''') are discrete holes in [[alveolar wall|walls]] of adjacent [[Pulmonary alveolus|alveoli]].<ref name="pmid6850150">{{cite journal| author1=Desplechain C. | author2=Foliguet B. | author3=Barrat E. | author4=Grignon G. | author5=Touati F.| title=[The pores of Kohn in pulmonary alveoli] | journal=Bull Eur Physiopathol Respir | year= 1983 | volume= 19 | issue= 1 | pages= 59–68 | pmid=6850150 }}</ref> Cuboidal [[type II alveolar cell]]s, which produce [[Pulmonary surfactant|surfactant]], usually form part of aperture.<ref name=miller>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=J.E. Cotes, D.J. Chinn, M.R.|title=Lung function : theory and measurement in health and disease|url=https://archive.org/details/lungfunctionphys00cote|url-access=limited|year=2006|publisher=Blackwell Pub.|location=Malden, Mass.|isbn=978-0-632-06493-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/lungfunctionphys00cote/page/n35 27]|edition=6th}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The pores of Kohn take their name from the German physician and pathologist Hans Nathan Kohn (1866–1935) who first described them in 1893.<ref>H.N. Kohn: “Zur Histologie der indurierenden fibrinösen Pneumonie”. Münchener Medicinische Wochenschrift 1893 40: 42-45</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gompelmann|first1=D.|last2=Eberhardt|first2=R.|last3=Herth|first3=F.J.F.|date=2013|title=Collateral Ventilation|url=https://www.karger.com/Article/PDF/348269|journal=Respiration|language=en|volume=85|issue=6|pages=515–520|doi=10.1159/000348269|pmid=23485627|issn=0025-7931|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Development==
They are absent in human newborns. They develop at 3–4 years of age along with [[canals of Lambert]] during the process of thinning of alveolar septa.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Jürg |editor-last=Hammer|title=Paediatric pulmonary function testing : 41 tables|url=https://archive.org/details/pediatricpulmona00hamm |url-access=limited |year=2005|publisher=Karger|location=Basel [u.a.]|isbn=3-8055-7753-2|edition=[Online-Ausg.]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pediatricpulmona00hamm/page/n16 6]}}</ref><ref name=miller/>

==Function==
The pores allow the passage of other materials such as fluid and bacteria, which is an important mechanism of spread of infection in [[lobar pneumonia]] and spread of fibrin in the [[Hepatization of lungs |grey hepatisation]] phase of recovery from the same. They also equalize the pressure in adjacent alveoli and, combined with increased distribution of surfactant, thus play an important role in prevention of [[Atelectasis|collapse of the lung]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Clinical Procedures In Emergency Medicine & Color Atlas Of Emergency Department Procedures.|year=2005|publisher=W B Saunders Co|isbn=1416022503|page=149}}</ref>

Unlike adults, in children these inter-alveolar connections are poorly developed which aids in limiting the spread of infection. This is thought to contribute to [[round pneumonia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radiopaedia.org/articles/round-pneumonia-1?lang=us|title=Round pneumonia &#124; Radiology Reference Article &#124; Radiopaedia.org|first=Yuranga|last=Weerakkody|website=Radiopaedia}}</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Lung anatomy]]
[[Category:Holes]]
[[Category:Anatomy named for one who described it]]