The purpose of this review is to call attention of respiratory scientists to an Official Policy Statement jointly issued by the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society on "Standards for the Quantitative Assessment of Lung Structure", based on an extended report of a joint task force of 20 experts, and recently published in the Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. This document provides investigators of normal and diseased lung structure with a review of the stereological methods that allow measurements to be done on sections. It critically discusses the preparation procedures, the conditions for unbiased sampling of the lung for microscopic study, and the potential applications of such methods. Here we present some case studies that underpin the importance of using accurate methods of structure quantification and outline paths into the future for structure-function studies on lung diseases.
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