The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 51, 335-340, Copyright © 1991 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Bronchoalveolar lavage in lung transplantation
H Shennib and D Nguyen
McGill University Lung Transplant Program, Montreal General Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
One of the dilemmas in the management of lung allotransplant recipients is
our inability to precisely determine the cause of graft dysfunction.
Differentiating between lung allograft infection, rejection, atelectasis,
or ischemic injury remains a difficult task. Tests directed at identifying
systemic abnormalities such as peripheral blood analysis so far have been
nonspecific and unlikely to accurately and promptly represent changes
occurring within the lungs. Transbronchial biopsy and bronchoalveolar
lavage have emerged as two methods with the most potential for aiding in
the establishment of diagnosis. This review attempts to provide the readers
with a current knowledge of the cellular events in lung allograft and the
status of bronchoalveolar lavage in experimental and clinical lung
transplantation.