Bronchoalveolar lavage procedure
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed in patients in cases of
suspected respiratory infection to determine the offending microbe,
suspected pulmonary hemosiderosis, aspiration pneumonia, pulmonary
alveolar proteinosis and unclear diagnosis. All BAL samples were
collected and analysed in accordance with the recommended standard
procedure of ATS/ERS guideline 2,3. BAL fluid samples
with greater than 25 neutrophils and lower than 10 epithelial cells per
microscopic field are considered to be relatively free of contamination.
10⁴ colony forming units per millilitre of BAL fluid are considered to
indicate established bacterial infection 2. BAL fluid
results, which did not meet these criterions, were excluded.