COMPARISON OF BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE TECHNIQUES FOR SAMPLING LOWER AIRWAYS IN CATS

摘要

The purpose of this study was to compare bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (B-BAL) and non-bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (NB-BAL) in clinically healthy cats.Two bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) were performed 2 weeks apart in twelve cats free of respiratory disease. BALs were performed in a randomized order under general anesthesia by wedging a 2.9mm fiber-optic bronchoscope (B-BAL) or an 8Fr red rubber catheter (NB-BAL). Ten mL aliquots of saline were infused into the left and right caudal lung fields and aspirated with a 20mL syringe. Proportion of fluid retrieved, depth of wedging and anesthetic complications were recorded. Total nucleated cell count, differential cell count and semiquantitative evaluation of cytologic quality were performed on all BALF samples. Results were compared using ANOVA and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.