To clarify the pathogenesis of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP), the apoptosis of eosinophils from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL-Eos) was compared with that of eosinophils from peripheral blood (PB-Eos) in six cases of CEP. The survival rate of eosinophils and the percentage of apoptotic cells of both types of eosinophils were examined, and the effects of interleukin 5 (IL-5) were evaluated. ...

BACKGROUND Standardised expression of results of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is problematical in the absence of a validated "denominator" of epithelial lining fluid dilution. The suitability of albumin in BAL fluid has been investigated in groups of clinically stable asthmatic and control subjects. METHODS Absolute levels of albumin in BAL fluid were measured in a preliminary study of 21 ast...

BACKGROUND Recent literature supports the notion that bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in ventilated trauma patients may improve our ability to diagnose and treat ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). We hypothesized that BAL would decrease the number of cases of VAP diagnosed and impact our antibiotic use and ventilator days. METHODS Prospective data on all infectious complications were collect...

OBJECTIVE We conducted a meta-analysis by using summary receiver operating characteristic curves to compare the diagnostic value for bacterial nosocomial pneumonia of the following: a) quantitative culture (colony-forming units per milliliter or CFU/mL) of respiratory secretions collected with a bronchoscopic protected specimen brush (PSB); b) quantitative culture of a bronchoscopic bronchoalve...

BACKGROUND: Accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of ventilator associatedpneumonia (VAP) is crucial for good outcomes. Endotracheal suctioning is performed inventilated patients as part of routine care and for tracheal toileting. AIM: We evaluatedif quantitative endotracheal aspirate (ETA) was a suitable alternative to bronchoalveolarlavage (BAL) for suspected VAP. In ad...

BAL19403 is a macrolide antibiotic from a novel structural class with potent activity against propionibacteria in vitro. The antibacterial spectrum of BAL19403 covers clinical isolates with mutations in the 2057 to 2059 region of 23S rRNA that confer resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin. The basis of this improved activity was investigated by ribosome binding assays and by a coupled trans...