FIGURE 1. Clinical and bronchial characteristics according to the number of exacerbations in the year following fibreoptic bronchoscopy.
Patients were divided according to the number of exacerbations in the year following the fibreoptic bronchoscopy in No-Ex (0 exacerbation, n=20), Low-Ex (1 or 2 exacerbations, n=27) and High-Ex (≥3 exacerbations, n=33). Comparison were performed according to the presence of atopy (history or current) (A), age at first wheezing episode (B), presence of bacteria in the BALF (C), Haemophilusgenus in the BALF (D), Streptococcus genus in the BALF (E), reticular basement membrane (RBM) to bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) distance (F), normalized (norm.) BSM area (G) and RBM thickness (H). For categorical variables (A, C-E), results were presented as percentage of patients with (grey bars) or without (white bars) the tested parameter and comparison between groups were performed using Chi square tests. For quantitative variables (B, F-H), results were presented as absolute values with the median (line) and comparisons between groups were performed using Kruskal-Wallis tests with Dunn’s post-tests. *p<0.05.