Chest ACCP Member Benefits
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Free
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lemière, C.
Right arrow Articles by Sears, M. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lemière, C.
Right arrow Articles by Sears, M. R.
(Chest. 2001;120:1107-1113.)
© 2001 American College of Chest Physicians

Differential Cell Counts in Sputum in Respiratory Epidemiology*

A Pilot Study

Catherine Lemière, MD; Corinne Walker, BSc; Denise O’Shaughnessy, BSc; Ann Efthimiadis, MLT; Frederick E. Hargreave, MD and Malcolm R. Sears, MB

* From the Asthma Research Group, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Correspondence to: Malcolm R. Sears, MB, Asthma Research Group, Firestone Regional Institute for Respiratory Health, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, McMaster University, 50 Charlton Ave East, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 4A6, Canada; e-mail: searsm{at}mcmaster.ca

Background: The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether measuring sputum differential cell counts, particularly eosinophils, could be a useful method of validating self-reported symptoms suggesting asthma in epidemiologic studies.

Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, we selected four groups of adult subjects by reported symptoms and diagnoses from among those previously randomly identified in a population study. Subjects were selected with no respiratory symptoms ever (normal group), or reporting a diagnosis of asthma (asthma group), or reporting recurrent wheezing not diagnosed as asthma (wheeze group), or reporting exposure to industrial irritants, but not asthma or wheezing (exposed group). Current respiratory symptoms, airway responsiveness to methacholine challenge, and sputum cell counts were determined. The study was completed by 107 subjects aged 20 to 44 years.

Results: There were no significant differences in FEV1 percent predicted, total cell count, and sputum eosinophil count among the four groups. Subjects with reported asthma had greater airway responsiveness as reflected in a lower bronchial reactivity (BR) index. There was a weak correlation between BR index and sputum eosinophils.

Conclusion: In a community setting, induced sputum eosinophil cell counts in subjects reporting asthma or wheezing were most often within the normal range and not sufficiently often abnormal to be useful in validating a diagnosis of asthma in epidemiologic studies.

Key Words: airway hyperresponsiveness • asthma • eosinophils • epidemiology • induced sputum




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ChestHome page
L.-P. Boulet, V. Boulet, and J. Milot
How Should We Quantify Asthma Control?: A Proposal
Chest, December 1, 2002; 122(6): 2217 - 2223.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2001 by the American College of Chest Physicians.