ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of differential cytology of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in common interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) and its relation with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) fibrosis. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of BAL from 91 patients. The total and percentage of cells were collected and analyzed according to published guidelines. RESULTS: The main diagnoses were connective tissue diseases (n = 24), hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) (n = 15), sarcoidosis (n = 12), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (n = 14), smoking-related interstitial lung diseases (sr-ILDs) (n = 8), aspiration (n = 8), and others (n = 10). The lymphocyte percentages differed among diagnoses (F = 2.85, p = 0.008). A greater number of lymphocytes were found in sarcoidosis (Md = 20%, IQR = 12-45%), HP (Md = 29%, IQR = 13-55%), and organizing pneumonia (Md = 28, IQR = 9-50%). No patient with IPF presented with > 25% lymphocytes in BAL. In 6/15 (40%) of the HP cases, the percentage of lymphocytes was < 25%. A total of 56 participants (62%) displayed HRCT findings that were indicative of fibrosis. In those cases the percentage of lymphocytes was 10.1 (IQR = 6.1-18.0) as compared with 20.2% (IQR = 9.7-37.5) of those 35 cases without fibrosis (p = 0.007). In patients with fibrosis in HRCT, the percentage of neutrophils was 11.3 (IQR = 4.1-21.4) as compared with 3.8 (IQR = 1.4-3.8) in those without fibrosis (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Several patterns in differential cytology are observed in common ILDs. The presence of fibrosis has an impact on these findings.
Subject(s)
Bronchoalveolar Lavage/methods , Cytological Techniques , Fibrosis/pathology , Lung Diseases, Interstitial/pathology , Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic/diagnosis , Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic/pathology , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Fibrosis/diagnosis , Humans , Lung Diseases, Interstitial/classification , Lung Diseases, Interstitial/diagnosis , Lymphocyte Count , Male , Pulmonary Fibrosis/diagnosis , Pulmonary Fibrosis/pathology , Tomography Scanners, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the nuclear DNA content of cervical lesions in liquid-based cytologic specimens prepared for static cytometry. STUDY DESIGN: The DNA content of cervical lesions was evaluated in cervical samples prepared with the Autocyte PREP liquid-based cytology system (TriPath Imaging Inc., Burlington, North Carolina, U.S.A.). A series of 47 samples stained with the Papanicolaou method (chronic cervicitis, n = 15; cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [CIN] 1, n = 25; CIN 2, n = 5; CIN 3, n = 2) were collected from consecutive women enrolled in an ongoing screening study at Leonor Mendes de Barros Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2002. Each residual sample was processed according to the Feulgen-thionin method (TriPath Imaging). Ploidy evaluation was performed using the CAS 200 image analysis system and Quantitative DNA Measurement software 3.0 (version 8.1) (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, Califoria, U.S.A.). Cellular ploidy was analyzed from atypical nuclei, and the DNA index was obtained using histograms for interpretation. RESULTS: All chronic cervicitis cases were diploid. Of the CIN 1 cases, 44% were diploid, 12% tetraploid, 32% aneuploid and 12% polyploid (diploid plus tetraploid). CIN 2 lesions were diploid in 60% and aneuploid in 40% of cases, whereas all CIN 3 lesions (100%) were aneuploid. CONCLUSION: The liquid-based cytologic samples proved to be suitable and highly useful for DNA analysis by image cytometry, which was capable of discriminating CIN 3 lesions from CIN 1 and 2 but not CIN 1 from 2 lesions. Aneuploidy was closely associated with CIN 3 lesions.
