An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline: The Clinical Utility of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cellular Analysis in Interstitial Lung Disease

• Published in: American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine Vol. 185; no. 9; pp. 1004 - 1014
• Main Authors: Meyer, Keith C., Raghu, Ganesh, Baughman, Robert P., Brown, Kevin K., Costabel, Ulrich, du Bois, Roland M., Drent, Marjolein, Haslam, Patricia L., Kim, Dong Soon, Nagai, Sonoko, Rottoli, Paola, Saltini, Cesare, Selman, Moisés, Strange, Charlie, Wood, Brent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY American Thoracic Society 01.05.2012
• Subjects: Adult; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Bronchoalveolar Lavage - methods; Bronchoalveolar Lavage - standards; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - cytology; Cell Count - methods; Cell Count - standards; Committees; Diagnosis, Differential; Flow Cytometry - methods; Flow Cytometry - standards; Humans; Intensive care medicine; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Lavage; Lung diseases; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - diagnosis; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - diagnostic imaging; Lymphocytes; Medical sciences; Neutrophils; Patients; Pneumonia; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; Respiratory system; Specimen Handling - methods; Specimen Handling - standards; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Bronchoscopy; Lung disease; lung diseases; Intensive care; American; Respiratory disease; Bronchoalveolar lavage; interstitial lung disease; Interstitial pneumonitis; cell differential count; Endoscopy; Resuscitation

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 r...