Comparison of clinical features between subjects with and without acute exacerbation
| Acute exacerbation by Kondoh's criteria | Nonexacerbation | p-value# | Accelerated decline | p-value¶ | |
| Subjects n | 8+ | 124§ | 16ƒ | ns | |
| Age yrs | 63.4±6.3 | 58.6±9.6 | ns | 60.1±9.4 | ns |
| Sex M/F | 6:2 | 92:32 | ns | 11:5 | ns |
| Smoking | |||||
| Current/ex-smoker/never | 3:3:2 | 50:36:38 | ns | 3:6:7 | ns |
| Treated n## | 5 | 93 | 12 | ns | |
| Dyspnoea MRC | 2.7±1.1 | 2.8±1.4 | ns | 2.7±1.0 | |
| PFT¶¶ % pred | |||||
| FVC | 72.5±13.5 | 73.3±17.7 | ns | 67.8±16.5 | ns |
| DL,CO | 54.0±23.1 | 64.1±19.2 | ns | 56.4±21.4 | ns |
| TLC | 84.1±18.5 | 78.8±17.6 | ns | 75.1±21.8 | ns |
| Pa,O2¶¶ | 82.4±11.3 | 88.0±12.4 | ns | 87.8±10.0 | ns |
| BAL¶¶ | |||||
| Macrophages % | 65.0 (47.0–71.6) | 72.7 (17.0–98.0) | ns | 67.0 (43.5–84.3) | ns |
| Lymphocytes % | 20.1 (3.6–30.0) | 14.9 (1.0–63.5) | ns | 15.0 (3.6–30.0) | ns |
| Neutrophils % | 4.0 (3.0–35.6) | 6.5 (0.0–27.7) | ns | 7.0 (0.6–41.0) | ns |
| Eosinophils % | 5.0 (0.0–15.0) | 0.6 (0.0–22.0) | ns | 3.0 (0.0–15.0) | ns |
| Lymphocytosis¶¶ >20% | 5:7 (71.4%) | 28:96 (29.2%) | ns | 6:16 (40.0% ) | ns |
| Neutrophilia¶¶ > 5 % | 3:7 (42.9%) | 59:96 (61.5%) | ns | 9:16 (60.0%) | ns |
| Eosinphilia >1.5 % | 4:7 (57.1%) | 39:92 (42.4%) | ns | 10:15 (66.7%) | ns |
Data presented as n, ratio, mean±SD or median (range). M: male; F: female; MRC: (British) Medical Research Council; PFT: pulmonary function test; FVC: forced vital capacity; DL,CO: carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lung; TLC: total lung capacity; Pa,O2: arterial oxygen tension; BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage; NS: nonsignificant. #: p-value between patients with and patients without acute exacerbation (AE); ¶: p-value between patients with accelerated decline and patients without AE; +: among 11 patients with AE, three patients who presented at the time of AE were excluded because no pre-AE data were available; §: the number of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis after exclusion of “accelerated decline”, which includes definite AE (11 patients), suspicious AE but not satisfying the Kondoh's criteria (five patients) and diagnostic uncertainty (seven patients); ƒ: among 23 patients with “accelerated decline”, seven patients who presented at the time of AE were excluded because no pre-AE data were available; ##: patients treated with steroids either with or without cytotoxic drugs. In the AE group, this is the number of patients treated before AE. In the non-AE group, this is the number of the patients treated during the course of the disease; ¶¶: at the time of diagnosis.