Bronchoalveolar lavage in the foal: Indication, method and results

Abstract

The bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a procedure, which is used to differentiate and evaluate various lower airway diseases in adult horses. In foals this method is the best way to diagnose a Pneumocystis carinii infection in vivo. Bronchoalveolar lavages are also useful for pharmacokinetic studies to determine concentrations of agents in the tissue of the lung or in the bronchoalveolar cells. The method of performing BAL was evaluated in a total number of 34 foals and 168 BALs. To ensure a recovery rate of more than 60% BALF the bronchoalveolar lavage was performed endoscopically in general anaesthesia. The cell count was determined, the bronchoalveolar fluid was centrifuged and a slide was made to differentiate the cells. The total cell count was 14±5, 8 G/L and most numerous cell populations were macrophages (73±14 %) and lymphocytes (18±12 %) in healthy foals (n=25) in the age of 8 to 12 weeks.

Bacteriological and Cytological Findings of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids in Foals with Lower Respiratory Tract Diseases

“…Özellikle kronik solunum sistemi hastalıklarında tercih edilse de gerek bakteriyolojik gerekse sitolojik muayene açısından değerlendirmede önemli bir rolü bulunmaktadır [15,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] . Diğer bir tanı yöntemi olan trakeal aspirasyon tekniği de alt solunum yolları hastalıklarında sıklıkla kullanılan yöntemlerdendir fakat BAL ile karşılaştırıldığında aralarında birçok farklılık bulunmaktadır [34,35] .…”