Keith C Meyer, Ganesh Raghu, Robert P Baughman, Kevin K Brown, Ulrich Costabel, Roland M du Bois, Marjolein Drent, Patricia L Haslam, Dong Soon Kim, Sonoko Nagai, Paola Rottoli, Cesare Saltini, Moisés Selman, Charlie Strange, Brent Wood
BACKGROUND: The clinical utility of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) cell analysis for the diagnosis and management of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) has been a subject of debate and controversy. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) sponsored a committee of international experts to examine all relevant literature on BAL in ILD and provide recommendations concerning the use of BAL in the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected ILD. PURPOSE: To provide recommendations for (1) the performance and processing of BAL and (2) the interpretation of BAL nucleated immune cell patterns and other BAL characteristics in patients with suspected ILD...
May 1, 2012: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine