title: The diagnostic value of the bronchoalveolar lavage in interstitial lung diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a diagnostic tool often used during the management of interstitial lung diseases (ILD). However, its diagnostic value in discrimination between entities comprising the very heterogenous group of ILD, is still a controversial issue. The objective of our study is to assess the diagnostic value of BAL in the management of ILD, by comparing the cytological findings in BAL fluid among the different diseases of this group.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a retrospective, observational study of 151 patients between January 2012 and December 2015. BAL fluid cytology was performed to analyse the distribution of leucocytes population subsets in patients with ILD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 52.78 years; 74.83% were women. The analysis of the following main groups of diseases was performed : sarcoïdosis (n = 30), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF; n = 22), other idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (non specific interstitial pneumonia, cryptogenic organising pneumonia and respiratory bronchiolitis interstitial lung disease; n = 20) and connective tissue disease (n = 14). Overall, out of 141 patients, 22% had sarcoïdosis, 15.6% had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), 14.18% had other idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) and 9.9% had connective tissue disease (CTD). Mixed alveolitis was common in the 4 groups, sarcoïdosis had higher proportion of lymphocytes and IPF had higher neutrophils count. However, there was no significant statistical difference of BAL cellular count among these diseases (p > 0.05). Also, the prevalence of studied diseases did not change with variation of BAL cellular count (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alone, the BAL cytological analysis has a limited value to provide substantial information that could lead to discriminate between diseases that form ILD. Thus, it must be always associated with other diagnostic methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, (B.P. 1835, Atlas) Route de sidi Harazem Fès - Maroc, Fez, Morocco. befared2013@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Boubacar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Efared
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, (B.P. 1835, Atlas) Route de sidi Harazem Fès - Maroc, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ebang-Atsame
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Sani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rabiou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Abdoulsalam S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Diarra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, (B.P. 1835, Atlas) Route de sidi Harazem Fès - Maroc, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Layla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tahiri
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, (B.P. 1835, Atlas) Route de sidi Harazem Fès - Maroc, Fez, Morocco.|Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Nawal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hammas
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, Fez, Morocco.|Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smahi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.|Department of Pneumology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Bouchra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Amara
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.|Department of Pneumology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Mohamed C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Benjelloun
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.|Department of Pneumology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Mounia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serraj
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, (B.P. 1835, Atlas) Route de sidi Harazem Fès - Maroc, Fez, Morocco.|Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chbani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hassan II Teaching Hospital, (B.P. 1835, Atlas) Route de sidi Harazem Fès - Maroc, Fez, Morocco.|Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology, Fez, Morocco.
authors.forename: Hinde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El Fatemi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018893:Bronchoalveolar Lavage; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bronchoalveolar lavage; Cytology; Diagnostic; Interstitial lung diseases