Primary ciliary dyskinesia: quantitative investigation of the ciliary ultrastructure with statistical analysis.

In this study the ultrastructure of cilia in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia was compared to that in patients with other respiratory infections and with that in healthy individuals. After statistical analysis of the findings, the prevalence and the specificity of morphological changes in primary ciliary dyskinesia were established. Guidelines were developed by which the existence of primary ciliary dyskinesia can be ascertained in biopsies of nasal mucosa via transmission electron microscopy.