RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CELLS OBTAINED BY BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE AND SURVIVAL IN IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS

Background - The relationship between cell types in bronchoalveolar la vage (BAL) fluid and the clinical course of patients with idiopathic p ulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been the subject of several studies. Howev er, the results of these studies are not conclusive. The aim of this s tudy was to investigate the relationship between the absolute and rela tive cell numbers in BAL fluid from patients with IPF and their surviv al. Methods - Results obtained from the initial BAL fluid analyses of all histologically proven cases of IPF (n=49) were selected retrospect ively. Cox's proportional hazards survival analysis was used for estim ating 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 n umbers or the percentages of any other cell type. Conclusions - Althou gh this study has restrictions, these findings suggest a negative rela tionship between the absolute numbers and percentages of eosinophils i n BAL fluid samples and survival in patients with IPF.