Total and differential inflammatory cell counts in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and in subepithelial bronchial tissue obtained from children with cystic fibrosis (CF) during chest exacerbation26 (n=36) or while well (n=10)
| Exacerbation | Well | p Value | |
| BAL (cells ×103 per ml) | |||
| Total inflammatory cells | 1914 (1098–3199) | 512 (119–588) | <0.001 |
| Neutrophils | 970 (287–1584), 51% | 222 (21–380), 56% | 0.004 |
| Lymphocytes | 49 (18–150), 3% | 10 (5–21), 3% | 0.019 |
| Macrophages | 884 (433–1158), 46% | 164 (94–319), 41% | <0.001 |
| Eosinophils | 17 (5–52), 1% | 1 (0–3), 0% | 0.007* |
| Biopsies (cells/mm2) | |||
| Total inflammatory cells | 1864 (1296–2634) | 1263 (742–1549) | 0.067 |
| Neutrophils | 14 (5–23), 1% | 15 (0–31), 1% | 0.964 |
| T lymphocytes | 912 (693–1411), 55% | 563 (398–963), 59% | 0.034 |
| B lymphocytes | 125 (66–197), 7% | 102 (38–288), 11% | 0.931 |
| Macrophages | 570 (316–881), 34% | 187 (56–473), 20% | 0.005 |
| Eosinophils | 0 (0–10), 0% | 0 (0–4), 0% | 0.215 |
| Mast cells | 45 (21–73), 3% | 82 (15–178), 9% | 0.379 |
BAL cell counts and differentials available from 27 children with CF during chest exacerbations and from six children with CF while well; biopsy cell counts available from 29–32 children with CF during chest exacerbations and from 8–10 children with CF while well, depending on cell type analysed; median (IQR) cell counts and percentage of total inflammatory cells shown.
↵* This significance was lost after adjustment for age (p=0.227).