Our Hitherto Assembled Experience with Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Children

Overview

The authors made 500 bronchoalveolar diagnostic lavages in children. From those they selected the results of166 analyses, according to the clinical conditions they created a control group and group of sick children. The latterwas further subdivided according to diagnoses into diagnostic groups: aspergillosis, bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis,relapsing bronchopneumonia, relapsing bronchitis, exogenous allergic alveolitis, diffuse parenchymatouspulmonary process (DPPP), sarcoidosis, irritating cough syndrome. In every examined child they evaluated thevolume of lavage fluid, the total number of cells, the percentage ratio of alveolar macrophages, polymorphonuclearleucocytes, total lymphocytes, CD3, CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes, they calculated the immunoregulating index. Theassessed values forming the control group were used as „reference“ values. After mathematical processing theyelaborated a practical table which makes rapid orientation during evaluation of any lavage fluid possible.

Key words:
bronchoalveolar lavage, analysis, lavage fluid, alveolar macrophages (AM), polymorphonuclearleucocytes (PMNL), lymphocytes (Ly), CD3, CD4, CD8, immunoregulating index (IRI)