Changes in bronchoalveolar lavage and lung function in rheumatoid arthritis. A controlled study.

A comparative study of bronchoalveolar lavage was done in 30 patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis and 30 age matched controls. Twelve patients had clinical lung disease (group I), 11 had lavage changes (group II) and 7 showed no abnormalities (group III). In group I, there was lower lung functions, tendency to older age and slightly longer history. There were no differences between the three groups (63% positive) in RA factor positivity. In the controls, lavage showed 67.3% return, 154.5 cells/cmm, 92.8% macrophages, 5.2% lymphocytes, 1.9% polymorphs and 0.2% eosinophils. In contrast, group I patients showed more polymorphs (10.3 +/- 8.3%) and group II more lymphocytes (14.5 +/- 18.7%; P less than 0.05). Thus, in chronic rheumatoid arthritic patients, bronchoalveolar lavage abnormalities may occur alone or in association with radiographic and functional abnormalities.