Lung anatomy/histology question?

Question

Please help, i've never been able to figure this out.

The alveoli extend to superficially within the lung parenchyma, but just how close do they come to the visceral pleura?

What cells and layers are between the mesothelial cells and the type 1 pneumocytes?

Are you able to send me a link with a labelled cross section of the region between the alveoli and visceral pleura?

Thank you for your kind help, I've been trying to work this out for about a year now :-)

Answer 1

If you want something schematic/labelled, this is the best I can find:

http://home.comcast.net/~wnor/thoraxresp...

However, you know real life is never pretty and neat like drawn in medical illustrations.  Here are some histology slides of visceral pleura in real life:

Embryological: http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Notes/...

http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/~wolexi...

(From: http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/~wolexi...  )

Perhaps the closest to what you are looking for, albeit without labels:

http://bjr.birjournals.org/cgi/content-n...

Have you tried contacting the anatomy/pathology department of the nearest medical school?  They might have something like that, or they might be able to create one, if they think it's a good teaching point.

Good luck.