TY - JOUR T1 - Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid recovery in children correlates with age and neutrophils JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - 4657 AU - Marcus Svedberg AU - Karsten Kötz AU - Bill Hesselmar Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/4657.abstract N2 - Background. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is an important tool in the diagnostic evaluation of respiratory diseases in children. Very little has been reported about the BAL fluid recovery and its variation in children. In this study we investigated the relationship between BAL fluid recovery, age, gender and inflammatory pattern.Method. A total of 311 children who underwent diagnostic bronchoscopy with BAL and BAL-cytology at Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, during 2007 to 2013 were included in the study. 58% were boys and the median age was 6 years, (range 0.1 - 18 years). All bronchoscopies were performed during general anaesthesia. 333 BAL-procedures were performed, and the instilled BAL-volume was adjusted to the patient's body weight, 3ml/kg, divided into three equal aliquots (maximum 3x50 ml).Results. Mean BAL fluid recovery was 51% (SD 21%). A positive correlation was found between BAL fluid recovery and age (r = 0.43, p=0.000), and a negative correlation between BAL fluid recovery and BAL-neutrophils (r= -0.30, p=0.000), when controlling for BAL- neutrophils and age respectively. BAL fluid recovery was not affected by gender, or by the percentage of BAL-lymphocytes.Conclusion. Young age, and a high percentage of BAL-neutrophils, are associated with a reduced BAL fluid recovery in children. ER -