Broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) for the diagnosis of sarcoidosic uveitis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the use of BAL for the diagnosis of sarcoidosic uveitis.


METHODS
Retrospective study of 109 consecutive patients with uveitis and minimum 2 signs of ocular sarcoidosis who had a BAL and chest imaging. BAL(+) was defined as an alveolar (a) lymphocytosis (L) aL > 15% with aCD4/CD8 > 3.5. Serum angiotensin converting enzyme (sACE), tuberculin skin test and gallium scan were tested in 83, 95 and 24 patients.


RESULTS
BAL was + in 26.6% of patients (86.2% females, mean age 50.8y) with mean aL = 46.8% and mean aCD4/CD8 = 8.5 which significantly differed form BAL(-) patients: 62.5% females, p < 0.02, mean age 43.6y, p < 0.05, mean aL = 17.2%, p < 0.001 and mean aCD4/CD8 = 1.8, p < 0.001. BAL(+) patients had 31% of bilateral hilar adenopathy (BHL(+)), and 59.1% of elevated sACE which significantly differed form BAL(-) patients: 8.8%, p = < 0.01 and 14.8% p < 0.001.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that BAL have a high diagnostic value and might be a useful additional test for the diagnosis of sarcoidosic uveitis, even with normal chest imaging.
Ophthalmology, CHU St. Pierre, Université Libre de Bruxelles, (ULB) , Brussels , Belgium .
L E
LE
Caspers
H
H
Ebraert
D
D
Makhoul
F
F
Willermain
O
O
Michel
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D018893:Bronchoalveolar Lavage / Q000379:methods*; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014605:Uveitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology