Survival of patients with mild emphysema in general is usually not short, even up to the level of normal life expectancy. However, survival may be greatly shortened in some patients who develop severe complications.
Emphysema is a pathological condition in which the elasticity of the airways at the distal end of the terminal bronchioles decreases and the volume of the lungs increases after hyperinflation, accompanied by destruction of the airway walls, and is commonly seen in the elderly or in patients with a long history of smoking. If the patient has normal lung function, no obvious effect on activity endurance, avoiding cold and flu and recurrent infections in daily life, and actively treating at the onset of the disease, the patient’s life expectancy can generally be up to the level of a normal person.
Some patients with emphysema will have alveolar expansion hyperventilation, which is very likely to lead to abnormal lung function, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other serious complications. Severe obstructive ventilation dysfunction can develop into respiratory failure, causing hypoxia and carbon dioxide retention, and even combined with pulmonary heart disease. If such patients are not treated aggressively, it can have a significant impact on survival and even be life-threatening.
The length of survival of emphysema varies from person to person, and it should be diagnosed and treated aggressively at the hospital to avoid affecting life expectancy.