Structural Aspects of Prenatal and Postnatal Development and Growth of the Lung

Abstract

The development of the human lung encompasses a period starting with the first appearance of the tracheal bud in the developing embryo and ending somewhere in early childhood. Although birth represents an extremely important event for the individual and produces abrupt changes in the function of the respiratory organ, the development of the pulmonary structures is a relatively steady and continuous process. It is therefore difficult to assess the moment when lung development is completed—a subject of continuing debate.

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