International Plastic Bronchitis Registry

Plastic bronchitis (PB) patients have casts removed during bronchoscopy as part of their routine care or that they are able to expectorate (cough out) casts naturally. The casts are normally discarded. Patients that agree to participate in the registry ship the airway casts and medical history to Dr. Bruce Rubin's Research Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond Virginia, USA.

The lab evaluates the biopolymer composition and structure of the airway casts by immunohistochemistry in order to identify microscopic differences between expectorated casts of subjects with plastic bronchitis and sputum from other populations (cystic fibrosis,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , and normal airways). The lab also conducts in vitro evaluation of clearability, adhesivity, cohesivity, and inflammatory mediator concentrations to better understand the nature of the disease.