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Bronchoalveolar lavage in COPD: fluid recovery correlates with the degree of emphysema

¹ Dept of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, ² Dept of Radiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, and ³ Personal Injury Prevention Section, Dept of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

CORRESPONDENCE: J. M. Löfdahl, Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Fax: 46 332998. E-mail: magnus.lofdahl@karolinska.se

Keywords: Bronchoalveloar lavage, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, bronchoscopy, carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lung, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary emphysema

Received: March 18, 2004
Accepted October 2, 2004

Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is an important research tool for assessing airway inflammation in a variety of inflammatory lung diseases. In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), BAL recovery is often low, making analysis of the recovered fluid difficult to interpret. The present authors hypothesised that the degree of emphysema may predict BAL recovery.

A total of 20 COPD patients (mean age 57 yrs, range 49–69) with a median (interquartile range) forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) of 51 (33–69)% predicted underwent BAL. Matched "healthy" smokers and nonsmokers served as controls. Emphysema index in COPD patients was calculated on computed tomography scan as the percentage of the right lung with pixels <–950 Hounsfield units. The carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lung (D_L,CO) was determined by the single-breath method.

COPD patients had lower BAL recovery than controls. COPD patients with an emphysema index <1 had higher BAL recovery than patients with an emphysema index >1. BAL recovery correlated negatively to emphysema index and positively to D_L,CO. However, no correlation was found between recovery and FEV₁.

In conclusion, the extent of emphysema evaluated by computed tomography-scan index and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lung may predict a low bronchoalveolar lavage recovery in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. These parameters may, therefore, be useful when chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are selected for bronchoscopy with bronchoalveloar lavage. The present study underlines the importance of careful phenotyping of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

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