Induced sputum (IS) sampling is a safe and validated approach to study bronchial inflammation in chronic obstructive lung diseases. Although promising results have also been reported in various diffuse interstitial lung disorders, the potential use of IS in the assessment of connective tissue diseases (CTD)-related lung involvement has not yet been investigated. Aim of the study: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of IS in the early management of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) at the onset of respiratory symptoms. Patients and methods: The study population included 19 patients (RA ¼ 12; SSc ¼ 7) and 14 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Lung function testing, high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax and IS collection were performed in all cases. Broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) was obtained in selected patients. Results: IS samples from patients contained a significantly higher percentage of neutrophils and a lower percentage of macrophages compared to healthy subjects (p ¼ 0.002 and 0.001, respectively), while the total cell number showed no differences. In addition, sputa yielded both higher cell counts and higher neutrophils than BAL samples (p ¼ 0.02 in all instances). No correlations were found between IS findings and lung function parameters, HRCT and BAL findings.

Induced sputum as a tool for early detection of airway inflammation in connective diseases-related lung involvement.

VATRELLA, Alessandro;
2007-01-01

Abstract

Induced sputum (IS) sampling is a safe and validated approach to study bronchial inflammation in chronic obstructive lung diseases. Although promising results have also been reported in various diffuse interstitial lung disorders, the potential use of IS in the assessment of connective tissue diseases (CTD)-related lung involvement has not yet been investigated. Aim of the study: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of IS in the early management of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) at the onset of respiratory symptoms. Patients and methods: The study population included 19 patients (RA ¼ 12; SSc ¼ 7) and 14 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Lung function testing, high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax and IS collection were performed in all cases. Broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) was obtained in selected patients. Results: IS samples from patients contained a significantly higher percentage of neutrophils and a lower percentage of macrophages compared to healthy subjects (p ¼ 0.002 and 0.001, respectively), while the total cell number showed no differences. In addition, sputa yielded both higher cell counts and higher neutrophils than BAL samples (p ¼ 0.02 in all instances). No correlations were found between IS findings and lung function parameters, HRCT and BAL findings.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/3100485
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