The bronchoscopist has always been vitally concerned with suppuration of the lung. His rôle has been twofold: diagnostic and therapeutic. The widespread application of bronchoscopy as a therapeutic measure in this disease will not be discussed. This paper deals with the bronchoscopic findings and their interpretation in cases of abscess of the lung in the acute, subacute or chronic stage. Bronchoscopy is not utilized merely when it is suspected that a foreign body is present in the bronchus.
At the Mount Sinai Hospital the bronchoscopist is frequently called on for an opinion on a thoracic condition. In 1932, of 166 new cases in which bronchoscopic examination was required there were 54 of abscess of the lung; in 1933, of 172 cases, there were 63 of abscess of the lung, and in 1934, of 160 cases, there were 53 of abscess of the lung. There was a total of