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The fine structure of the bronchial cilia has been studied in biopsies of eighteen patients with chronic bronchitis and six nonsmoking controls. Abnormal cilia were noted in three of the control subjects and in all the patients with chronic bronchitis. The percentage of abnormal cilia ranged from 0 to 6% in control subjects and from 8 to 28% in patients with chronic bronchitis. Some ciliary abnormalities with changes in the axonemal 9 + 2 pattern of organisation were only detected in patients with chronic bronchitis. Compound cilia with two or more complete axonemes arranged parallel to one another and giant cilia with increased amounts of cytoplasmic matrix were observed in both control and diseased subjects. The possibility that these cilia represent aspects of biological variability or abnormalities of epigenetic origin is discussed. On the basis of the reported data, it is reasonable to suggest that the presence of atypical cilia of epigenetic origin contribute to the severe impairment of mucociliary transport associated with chronic bronchitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]