Pneumonia Case Study: Symptoms and Pathophysiology Report

This report provides an analysis of pneumonia symptoms, focusing on a case study involving shortness of breath and the production of green, malodorous sputum. It delves into the pathophysiology of the disease, explaining how factors like exudates, mucus, and neutrophil action contribute to the observed symptoms. The report highlights the patient's elevated respiratory rate and the impact on oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange. The report also explores the reasons behind the green sputum, differentiating between smoker's cough and infection-related causes, emphasizing the role of neutrophils and purulence. It references supporting research to explain the mechanisms of mucus production, the formation of phlegm, and the changes in sputum color and odor, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of the patient’s condition. This report provides a good understanding of the disease and its symptoms.

The second symptom is shortness of breath. Roger Wilson has the problem short
of breath. The pathophysiology of bilateral pneumonia indicated that when fibrin-rich
exudates fill the infected alveoli and adjacent alveolar spaces and cause them to stick
together. The process is small blood vessels leak in the lungs, and protein-rich fluids
infiltrate into the alveoli. This results in a smaller functional area for oxygen-carbon
dioxide exchange. The patient is relatively hypoxic while retaining potentially
damaging carbon dioxide. The patient breathes faster and faster to inhale more oxygen
and emit more carbon dioxide as argued by Alcón, Fàbregas & Torres, (2005).
Increased mucus secretion, capillary leakage may cause mucus to stain blood. The
mucus plug further reduces the efficiency of gas exchange in the lungs. The alveoli
are also filled with large amounts of liquid and debris produced by white blood cells
to fight infection. This process is called the consolidation of the lung (Alcón,
Fàbregas & Torres, 2005).
The process is manifested as high respiratory rate 31 breaths per minute, and the
patient breathes faster and faster to inhale more oxygen and emit more carbon dioxide
and the patient’s low SPO2 also indicated that patient’s lung function has some
problems including chest pains, fever and breathing that sounds funny and noisy at
times among others.The third sign is green and malodorous sputum. Sputum is the
mucus secretion in the respiratory system.
Blood supplies oxygen to body cells and clears metabolic waste. Respiratory
tract tissue is thin and fragile, and the surface of alveoli with gas exchange is the
thinnest. The body has many mechanisms to protect these tissues and ensure that
debris and bacteria do not reach them; mucus is one of them. As Richardson (2010)
argues, “Mucus is secreted from two distinct areas within the lung tissue. In the
surface epithelium, which is part of the tissue lining of the airways, there are mucus-
producing cells called goblet cells. The connective tissue layer beneath the mucosal
epithelium contains seromucous glands which also produce mucus (Richardson,
2010).” Mucus is sticky, and this helps to trap dust particles, bacteria and other

inhaled debris. Mucus also contains natural antibiotics, which help to destroy bacteria.
When the respiratory system is stimulated to secrete a large amount of mucus, phlegm
forms, in some disease processes, the sputum changes in nature and colour
(Richardson, 2010). In the scenario, the patient had green and malodorous sputum.
Two reasons can cause green sputum. First is smoking; in smokers, mucus builds up
in the lungs, creating a "smoker's cough." The sputum produced may be green, yellow,
or bloody (Barrell, 2017). In the scenario, the patient isn’t a smoker, so this is not the
reason why he got this kind of sputum.
Secondly, the respiratory system infected with pathogens in the scenario is
pneumonia. Research shows that the more the neutrophils show in sputum, the
greener they are (Barrell, 2017). As mentioned in the previous paragraph, when
pathogens invade, neutrophils form neutrophil traps. Besides, the patient’s sputum
also got a malodorous smell. This is because of purulence. Purulence is the
liquefaction necrosis of cells and tissues during inflammation under the action of
proteolytic enzymes released by bacteria and neutrophils. When pus and phlegm are
mixed, they become thick phlegm, which has a foul smell ("Pus in Sputum Associated
with Disease-prone Bacteria in Bronchiectasis", 2017).