title: [Significance of bronchial alveolar lavage in the diagnosis of eosinophilic pneumonia].
abstract: We describe 3 cases of eosinophilic pneumonia of unknown etiology with atypical clinical findings diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). In 2 patients with subacute symptoms and restrictive ventilatory dysfunction there was no eosinophilia in peripheral blood, and chest X-ray showed a bilateral acinar and mixed interstitial-acinar pattern respectively. Transbronchial lung biopsies revealed only nonspecific changes. The third patient had acute respiratory failure and the eosinophils in peripheral blood were 1500/microliters. Chest X-ray demonstrated only minimal interstitial changes. In all instances the eosinophilic pneumonia was diagnosed by a marked BAL-eosinophilia of 25 to 45%. No specific etiology could be detected for the eosinophilic lung disease. The response to treatment with corticosteroids was prompt.
authors.affiliation: Département für Innere Medizin, Universitätsspital, Zürich.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Speich
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Krestin
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lagler
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Russi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology*; D004804:Eosinophils; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011657:Pulmonary Eosinophilia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy; D011859:Radiography; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests
chemical_list: D011241:Prednisone
vernacular_title: Die Bedeutung der bronchoalveolären Lavage in der Diagnose von eosinophilen Pneumonien.