Relationship between cells obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage and survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
BACKGROUND--The relationship between cell types in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and the clinical course of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been the subject of several studies. However, the results of these studies are not conclusive. The aim of this study was to investiga...
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Published in | Thorax Vol. 50; no. 10; pp. 1087 - 1092 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Thoracic Society
01.10.1995
BMJ |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | BACKGROUND--The relationship between cell types in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and the clinical course of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been the subject of several studies. However, the results of these studies are not conclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the absolute and relative cell numbers in BAL fluid from patients with IPF and their survival. METHODS--Results obtained from the initial BAL fluid analyses of all histologically proven cases of IPF (n = 49) were selected retrospectively. Cox's proportional hazards survival analysis was used for estimating the relationship between absolute and relative cell numbers and survival. RESULTS--A negative relationship was found between both the absolute numbers and percentages of eosinophils in BAL fluid samples and survival. No such relationship was demonstrated for the absolute numbers or the percentages of any other cell type. CONCLUSIONS--Although this study has restrictions, these findings suggest a negative relationship between the absolute numbers and percentages of eosinophils in BAL fluid samples and survival in patients with IPF. |
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Bibliography: | istex:E4BF16DAAFCA39EA3E24B427E39EEDF7ED9283B0 local:thoraxjnl;50/10/1087 href:thoraxjnl-50-1087.pdf ark:/67375/NVC-L4ZL3VNG-6 PMID:7491558 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0040-6376 1468-3296 |
DOI: | 10.1136/thx.50.10.1087 |