Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Characteristics of Patients With Sarcoidosis and Nonsarcoidosis Interstitial Lung Diseases: Ten-Year Experience of a Single Center in Turkey

摘要

Background:Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a noninvasive and useful technique for evaluating interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). Flow cytometric analysis of BAL fluid reveals specific diagnostic information in some unusual ILDs, and helps to narrow down the possible causes of interstitial diseases in most patients with more common disorders. A high BAL CD4/CD8 ratio is highly specific for sarcoidosis but can also be seen in other ILDs.