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.