title: Bronchoalveolar lavage in interstitial lung disease: effect of volume of fluid infused.
abstract: To evaluate the effect of varying infusate volume on the results of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in patients with interstitial lung disease, 55 patients underwent 58 BAL during which both a 100- and 250-ml lavage was performed in the same lobe of the lung. Although the percent of the fluid that was returned and the total numbers of cells were greater in the 250- vs. the 100-ml lavage, there were no significant differences in cell differentials or numbers of cells per milliliter between the 100- and 250-ml BAL. We conclude that infusate volume does not affect cell differentials or numbers of cells per milliliter of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with interstitial lung disease.
authors: Department of Medicine, Veterans Administration, Iowa City, Iowa.
authors: R A
authors: RA
authors: Helmers
authors: C S
authors: CS
authors: Dayton
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Floerchinger
authors: G W
authors: GW
authors: Hunninghake
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000473:pathology; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000473:pathology; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation / Q000379:methods