[Acute lymphocytic alveolitis in sarcoidosis]

Lymphocytic alveolitis is the characteristic feature of active sarcoidosis. High intensity alveolitis (more than 28% of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) implicates, according to some authors, specific, most often poor prognosis. Twenty-seven patients with active pulmonary sarcoidosis were grouped according to the intensity of lymphocytic alveolitis. In the first group, there were 13 patients with high intensity alveolitis (more than 28% of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, average 42.8 +/- 12%) and in the second group 14 patients with low intensity alveolitis (less than 28% of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, average 13.3 +/- 6.5%). The groups did not differ with regard to sex, chest radiologic stage or the number of relapses. All the patients had pulmonary function tests: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), diffusion capacity (DLCO), and rest and exercise arterial blood oxygen tension. The high intensity alveolitis group had significantly lower FVC (p < 0.01) and FEV1 (p < 0.05) as compared with the low intensity alveolitis group, what indicates that the high intensity alveolitis group of patients had more advanced pulmonary disease and was accordingly more often treated with corticosteroids (69.2%). Nine patients with high intensity alveolitis and ten with low intensity were followed up for 6 months. In the group with high intensity alveolitis there was a statistically significant improvement of DLCO (p < 0.01) what could be explained by a frequent use of corticosteroids in this group. Chest radiogram in the high intensity alveolitis group showed complete clearing in one patient only and incomplete in eight.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)