Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Occupational Lung Diseases

Bronchoalveolar lavage in occupational lung diseases.

Occupational lung diseases (OLDs) are related to the exposure and inhalation of organic, inorganic, and synthetic particles, fumes, gases, or infectious agents. From the long list of OLDs this article focuses the discussion on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in parenchymal immunoinflammatory conditions, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and pneumoconiosis. Several antigens may cause HP, in...

The role of Bronchoalveolar lavage in Interstitial Lung Diseases.

Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD) are a group of diseases characterized by bilateral involvement of lung parenchyma, acutely or chronically, which have different degrees of fibrosis and tissue inflammation and which occur in immunocompetent hosts, without infection or neoplasia. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a useful diagnostic tool for ILD. The cellular profile obtained by BAL, in association...

Bronchoalveolar lavage in gold lung.

We report the results of bronchoalveolar lavage in a patient with gold salt-induced interstitial pneumonitis. The presence of elevated numbers of lymphocytes in the lavage specimen supports a hypersensitivity-related pathogenesis of this disease. Such findings may help distinguish pulmonary complications of gold therapy from interstitial disease due to rheumatoid arthritis.

Bronchoalveolar lavage in talc induced lung disease.

A 65 year old woman with a history of occupational talc inhalation presented with hypoxaemia, cough, and dyspnoea with a normal chest radiograph. Bronchoalveolar lavage showed considerable lymphocytosis, with a predominance of T8+ T lymphocytes, and open lung biopsy showed peribronchiolar granulomas containing talc crystals. Corticosteroid treatment resulted in dramatic improvement. Bronchoalve...

Clinical guidelines and indications for bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL): occupational lung diseases due to inhalation of inorganic dust.