[T4/T8 ratio in bronchoalveolar lavage in sarcoidosis--a marker of activity and/or prognosis?].

In 158 patients with histologically confirmed intrathoracic sarcoidosis the T4/T8 quotient was checked in broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) for its informative value with regard to activity and prognosis of the disease. In asymptomatic patients with x-ray type I and normal lung function, in radiological remissions of x-ray types I and improvement in the course of disease in patients whose disease had initially been classified acute, we found statistically significantly higher T4/T8 quotients than in the other patient groups; we did not observe any deterioration in the course of the disease. High T4/T8 quotients will thus not generally point to an active or progressing disease; the information conveyed by these data is of limited clinical usefulness in individual cases only.