Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disorder with a high rate of spontaneous regression. Clara cell 10-kDa protein (CC10), the predominant product of nonciliated bronchiolar epithelial cells, is a potent immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory agent. CC10 levels were measured in sera and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids from 31 sarcoidosis patients (nine progressive disease and 22 regress...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which has the histological pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP), is a progressive interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis. Idiopathic interstitial pneumonias with a histological pattern of nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) have a better prognosis than UIP, and may present with a clinical picture identical to IPF. The authors hypothes...

The ideal diagnostic approach for ventilator-associated pneumonia currently is based on invasive procedures to obtain respiratory tract cultures. Given the lack of consensus and relatively poor acceptance of full bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and protected specimen brush (PSB), less invasive procedures have been developed. We review the nonbronchoscopic procedures (nonbronchoscopic...

BACKGROUND It is known that tissue and serum sialic acid levels may be altered by malignant transformation. In this study, sialic acid levels were determined in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and serum in two groups of patients with lung cancer and non-malignant diseases of the lung. METHODS Colorimetric methods were used for determination sialic acid in serum and in BAL samples. Flexible...

Abstract. We report here a 35 year-old immunocompetent male, with a fulminantly lethal diffuse alveolar hemorrhage caused by CMV pneumonia. The patient was admitted with fever, rust colored sputum and exertional dyspnea. A chest x-ray revealed bilateral alveolar infiltration in a butterfly pattern. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed which revealed alveolar hemorrhage. Microscopic findin...

Microvesicles (MVs) released from almost all cells are recognized as cell communication tools. MVs have been investigated in several inflammatory diseases but poorly biological fluids like bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of smokers. The purpose this study was to investigate the presence and source BAL smokers with without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared nonsmoking controls. U...

BACKGROUND COPD is associated with increased numbers of T cells in the lungs, particularly CD8+ T cells. The mechanisms of increased T cells are unknown but may be related to repeated virus infections in COPD patients. We analysed lymphocyte subsets in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage in smokers and COPD subjects during experimental rhinovirus infections. METHODS Lymphocytes were isolated fro...

This study describes two new techniques of lung lavage which selectively remove material from the central airways, or from the lung below the seventh generation. Bronchograms confirmed that discrete regions of the lung were washed by central lavage (CL; maximum airway diameter approximately 6.5 mm) and peripheral lavage (PL; maximum airway diameter approximately 1.3 mm), and that both could be ...

Lymphocytes play an important role in many lung diseases and are routinely accessible by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Lymphocytes from the BAL (BAL pool) have a different subset composition to those from peripheral blood, consisting mainly of activated T-cells. The aim of this study was to examine whether preferential migration of activated T-cells to the bronchoalveolar space or factors of th...

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed on eleven healthy smokers before and after eight weeks of oral treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) 200 mg t.i.d. The concentrations of selected eosinophil and neutrophil granule constituents and of selected proteases and protease inhibitors, albumin and endotoxin were determined in the recovered BAL fluid and in plasma or serum samples. In addition, ...