title: Utility of bronchoalveolar lavage in the assessment of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates in nonAIDS immunocompromised patients.
abstract: The efficacy of bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage for diagnosing 32 episodes of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates was studied in 30 nonAIDS immunocompromised patients. Bronchoalveolar lavage had an overall diagnostic yield of 84% (27 of 32 episodes). Bronchoalveolar lavage was noncontributive in five episodes of pneumonitis: drug induced in one, nonspecific in three and pneumonitis of unestablished etiology in one. Overall, the procedure is safe and did not miss diagnoses for which conventional treatment was available. Our data support the use of bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage as the primary diagnostic procedure in immunocompromised patients with diffuse pulmonary infiltrates.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Unit, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Breuer
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Lossos
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lafair
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Engelhard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000175:diagnosis; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000175:diagnosis