Interpretation of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology Contents Editor Marjolein Drent, MD, PhD Maastricht, The Netherlands Preface e-mail :
[email protected] Foreword Contributors Introduction Prof. Robert Baughman, MD, PhD Cincinnati, Ohio, USA e-mail :
[email protected] [email protected] History Prof. Ulrich Costabel, MD, PhD Essen, Germany e-mail:
[email protected] Bronchoalveolar lavage Jan A. Jacobs, MD, PhD Text with illustrations Maastricht, The Netherlands e-mail:
[email protected] Interactive predicting model Rob J.S. Lamers, MD, PhD Predicting program Heerlen, The Netherlands Software to evaluate BALF analysis e-mail:
[email protected] Computer program using BALF Variables: a new release Paul G.H. Mulder, MSc, PhD Rotterdam, The Netherlands e-mail:
[email protected] Prof. Herbert Y. Reynolds, MD, PhD Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA Glossary of abbreviations e-mail:
[email protected] Acknowledgements Prof. Sjoerd Sc. Wagenaar, MD, PhD Amsterdam, The Netherlands e-mail:
[email protected] Interpretation of BALF cytology Preface Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) explores large areas of the alveolar compartment providing cells as well as non-cellular constituents from the lower respiratory tract. It opens a window to the lung. Alterations in BAL fluid and cells reflect pathological changes in the lung parenchyma. The BAL procedure was developed as a research tool. Meanwhile its usefulness, also for clinical applications, has been appreciated worldwide in diagnostic work-up of infectious and non-infectious interstitial lung diseases. Moreover, BAL has several advantages over biopsy procedures. It is a safe, easily performed, minimally invasive, and well tolerated procedure. In this respect, when the clinician decides that a BAL might be helpful to provide diagnostic material, it is mandatory to consider the provided information obtained from BAL fluid analysis carefully and to have reliable diagnostic criteria.