Bronchoalveolar Lavage D Dimer and Alveolitis
The eight sarcoidosis patients with BAL D dimer had significantly higher levels of BAL cells per milliliter and total protein than healthy volunteers (Table 2). The two individuals with sarcoidosis and no BAL D dimer were indistinguishable from the healthy group except that one patient had a higher than normal percentage of lymphocytes in BAL fluid. The percentage of lymphocytes was approximately twofold greater in sarcoidosis patients with measurable BAL D dimer, giving them approximately 6.5 times more lymphocytes per milliliter of BAL fluid than the two patients without BAL D dimer. Comparisons for significant differences between sarcoidosis patients with BAL D dimer and those without were not made because of the small sample sizes.
Bronchoalveolar lavage D dimer was correlated with BAL cells per milliliter (Fig 3). Specifically, D dimer correlated with lymphocytes per milliliter (r=0.970, p<0.001), but not macrophages per milliliter (r= —0.246, p=0.556). Bronchoalveolar lavage D dimer also correlated with BAL total protein levels (r=0.936, p<0.001). Plasma D dimer did not correlate with any BAL cell parameter.

Table 2-Mean Values of BALD Dbnery BAL Tbtal Protein and Сейм in Healthy Subjects and Sarcoidosis Patients

Figure 3. Correlation between BAL D dimer levels and BAL fluid cells per milliliter. Bronchoalveolar lavage D dimer correlated best with BAL fluid cells per milliliter but also correlated well with BAL fluid lymphocytes per milliliter and total protein.