Table 1. Study population characteristics of IPF patients and controls undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy with BAL.
| Control* | IPF patients* | Pvalue† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| N | 7 | 16 | |
| Age | 46.9 (±6.23) | 67 (±8.62) | 0.001 |
| Gender (Male ⁄ Female) | 3 ⁄ 4 | 12 ⁄ 4 | 0.182 |
| Current/Ex/Never smokers | 6 ⁄ 0 ⁄ 1 | 4 ⁄ 10 ⁄ 2 | 1.000$ |
| Smoke history (pack years) | 19.3(±13.06) | 21.2(±16.34) | 0.806 |
| FVC (%) | 115.05(±16.72) | 80.6(±27) | 0.009 |
| Dlco (%) | 82.06(±7.59) | 48.6(±16) | 0.001 |
| BAL cell count | |||
| Macrophages (%) | 83.4 (±7.68) | 86.1 (±3.84) | 0.671 |
| Neutrophils (%) | 3.5 (±0.90) | 7.3 (±4.04) | 0.019 |
| Lymphocytes (%) | 8.3 (±8.31) | 3.0 (±2.49) | 0.047 |
| Eosinophils (%) | 1.2 (±1.70) | 3.0 (±1.87) | 0.026 |
| Basophils (%) | 0.0 (±0.00) | 0.0 (±0.12) | 0.557 |
Definition of abbreviations: FVC = Forced Vital Capacity, Dlco = Diffusing Capacity,
*Data is expressed as mean and standard deviation
†Comparisons between the groups were performed by Mann-Whitney test or Fisher’s exact test for frequencies
$Current and ex-smokers compared to never smokers