The Clinical Characteristics and Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cellularity in Bronchiolitis Obliterans / 소아알레르기및호흡기학회지

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the profile of bronchoalveolar lavage cell differentials and to compare the cell differentials between 3 different post-infectious BO (bronchiolitis obliterans)(Adenovirus BO, Mycoplasma BO, Measles BO) who showed a different clinical severity of illness. METHODS: Using a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) with flexible bronchoscopy procedure, this study investigated the cellular profiles of BAL fluid in children with BO caused by adenovirus (adenovirus BO, n=8), Mycoplasma(Mycoplasma BO, n=6) and measles (measles BO, n=6). These results were compared with clinical severity of illness score. Comparisons between all the groups were first made using the Kruskal-Wallis test. In case of significant difference, individual groups were compared by using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The total cell number was higher in the adenovirus BO group than the Mycoplasma BO or the measles BO group, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Neutrophil percentage was higher in the adenovirus BO group [72.5% (39.3-95.5); P<0.05], with no difference found between the Mycoplasma BO group [36.5%(8.8-60.4)] and the measles BO group [29.5%(20.8-58.1)]. The percentage of macrophages was lower in the adenovirus BO group [18%(4.5-42.0); P<0.05] than in Mycoplasma BO group [57.0%(38.5-76.0)] or measles BO group [54.5%(39.8-74.3)] in conjunction with a marked increase in the percentage of neutrophils. The high severity score children (65.0%, P<0.05) showed higher % nerutrophils than those of the low severity score children (29.0%). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that clinical severity of BO is associated with neutrophil proportion and suggest that neutrophils are playing an important role in the pathogenesis of the post infectious BO.

Bacteriological Survey of beta-Hemolytic Streptococci from the Throats of Elementary School Children in Chinju: Compared with the Results of Children in Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul

PURPOSE: Throat culture for streptococcal pharyngitis is a gold standard to diagnose, but it may be misleading to interpret due to the carriers. The isolation rates of beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) and Streptococcus pyogenes in the school children in Chinju were investigated and compared with those of Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul previously reported. METHODS: Throat cultures were taken from the healthy 476 elementary school children who had no symptoms or signs of upper respiratory tract infection in April 1995, and the beta-hemolytic streptococci were identified with bacitracin disk (0.04 U) and latex agglutination. RESULTS: One-hundred fifty-four (32.4%) yielded BHS and 88 (18.5%) had S. pyogenes. The serogrouping revealed 30 (6.7%) group G, 24 (5.0%) group C, 4 (0.8%) group B, and 8 (1.7%) non-group A,B,C,G respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The isolation rate of BHS in Chinju was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the results of Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul. The identification of BHS was also different from the other areas. In addition to these bacteriologic investigation, the study should be followed whether these carriers were simple contact ones or suffered from asymptomatic infections, and the epidemiologic study using serotyping, such as M or T typing, is necessary.