Hepatization

HEPATIZATION (from Greek hepar-liver), opetchenenie, a term used to denote those changes in the lung as a result of which it becomes dense due to the filling of the alveoli with exudate. Usually this term is applied to denote the hardening of an entire lobe or an entire lung, as occurs in lobar pneumonia. In this disease, the affected part of the lung acquires a uniform dense consistency resembling the consistency of the liver. In color, hepatization can be red, gray-red, and gray, depending on the predominant content of red or white corpuscles in the exudate. A caseous form of H. is also distinguished in tuberculous pneumonia and white H. in syphilitic pneumonia of newborns. The latter two terms are rarely used.