Interpretation of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology - ILD care

Interpretation of BALF cytology
(Group II). If the distinction turns out to be in favour of non-infectious lung disease, in the second step, the already
validated logistic regression model can be used for distinguishing between the three non-infectious ILD:
sarcoidosis, IPF and EAA [9].
Results
The characteristics and BALF analysis results of the Group I (10) and Group II [8,9] were reported previously. These
data are summarized in table 1. In contrast to what was found in the subpopulations of Group II, in Group I no
significant difference was demonstrated between smokers and non-smokers [10].
Table 1.-BALFvariables from the studied subpopulations used in the polychotomous regression model
Study groups (n)
Sar (Nsm) (145)
Sar (Sm) (45)
EEA (Nsm) (34)
EAA (Sm) (4)
IPF (Nsm) (27)
IPF (Sm) (17)
Infectious (31)
(Nsm+Sm)
Yield,% TCCx10 4 .mL -1 AMs*
55.6±1.0
(20.0-85.0)
56.6±1.6
(22.5-82.5)
46.4±1.8
(25.0-67.5)
43.4±4.6
(31.0-52.5)
42.6±2.4
(12.5-65.0)
46.1±4.2
(30.0-70.0)
28.9±5.1
(7.5-67.5)
18.9±10.0
(3.6-63.0)
31.5±23.9
(6.4-167.1)
41.7±25.6
(3.4-110.9)
54.6±34.6
(30.0-105.7)
24.2±29.5
(5.5-168.8)
51.9±25.2
(5.5-168.8)
329.1±84.8
(7-2432)
63.2±1.5
(18.1-98.0)
74.9±2.5
(33.0-98.8)
38.2±1.5
(5.2-75.1)
57.3±5.6
(41.1-72.8)
67.8±3.7
(44.8-91.7)
63.3± 8.5
(8.1-88.8)
7.0±1.3
(0-25.0 )
PMNs* Lym* Eos*
1.7± 0.4
(0-64.0)
1.2± 0.2
(0-4.8)
4.3±0.6
(0.2-12.4)
5.8±1.2
(2.6-8.0)
11.7±1.9
(0.9-39.5)
18.9± 8.9
(0.2-89.6)
90.5±1.5
(68.8-99.8)
34.5±1.5
(0.9-80.2)
23.0±1.8
(0-67.0)
58.1±2.6
(14.6-83.2)
40.8±7.5
(19.8-53.9)
13.8±3.0
(0.9-43.6)
10.2±2.7
(0.1-20.0)
1.9±0.5
(0-10.8)
0.55±0.1
(0-5.0)
0.7±0.2
(0-5.1)
2.6±0.5
(0-14.3)
3.3±2.3
(0.5-10.3)
6.4 ±1.8
(0-38.6)
7.6±2.8
(0.3-48.2)
0.04±0.3
(0-0.8)
Data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) and range in parentheses. Definition of abbreviations:
n=number of cases; TCC=total cell count; AMs=alveolar macrophages; PMNs= polymorphonuclear neutrophils;
Lym=lymphocytes; Eos=eosinophils; Sar=sarcoidosis; EAA=extrinsic allergic alveolitis; IPF=idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis;
NSm=nonsmokers; Sm=smokers. *percentages of the total cell count
he explanatory variables derived from BALF used in this study for distinguishing pulmonary diseases of infectious
and non-infectious origin were: yield or recovery ((out/in) x 100% of the BALF), total cell count (TCC) x 10 4 .mL -1 , the
percentages of eosinophils, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs), lymphocytes and alveolar macrophages,
respectively. These variables were non-missing for 31 subjects with a pulmonary disorder of a bacterial infectious
origin (Group I) and 272 subjects with non-infectious ILD (Group II). Univariate testing (using the Mann-Whitney test)
showed significant differences between both groups of patients for each of these variables separately (p