Abstract: Objective To study the causes of atelectasis and its therapy.Methods Retrospective analysis had been used to study the causes,location and therapy of atelectasis through the review of the 240 atelectasis cases.Results For 240 cases with atelectasis,tuberculosis (60.8%),tumor(16.6%),inflmation(12.1%) were its main causes.Conclusion CT and bronchoscopy were its main examination means.Atelectasis is mostly found in tuberculosis, neoplasms and inflammations, and should be examined with fiberoptic bronchosope to gain bacteriological and pathological evidences; basic therapies should be paid attention: encouraging the patients to cough, percussing the backs, ultrasonic aerosol inhalation, full sputum aspiration and local therapy with fiberoptic bronchoscope.

Key words: Atelectasis/diagnosis