PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Rabiller, A.
AU  - Jaïs, X.
AU  - Hamid, A.
AU  - Resten, A.
AU  - Parent, F.
AU  - Haque, R.
AU  - Capron, F.
AU  - Sitbon, O.
AU  - Simonneau, G.
AU  - Humbert, M.
TI  - Occult alveolar haemorrhage in pulmonary veno-occlusive disease
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.06.00054105
DP  - 2006 Jan 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 108--113
VI  - 27
IP  - 1
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/27/1/108.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/27/1/108.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2006 Jan 01; 27
AB  - Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is a rare cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension that affects predominantly post-capillary pulmonary vessels. A major concern with PVOD is the poor response to available therapies and the risk of pulmonary oedema with continuous intravenous epoprostenol. The present authors hypothesised that alveolar haemorrhage may be a characteristic feature of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease, as compared with other forms of pulmonary arterial hypertension that predominantly involve pre-capillary pulmonary arteries. This paper reports a series of 19 patients with either PVOD (n = 8) or idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH; n = 11) who underwent bronchoalveolar lavage. Cytological analyses were performed and differential counts were made on Perls-stained preparations. The Golde score was used to assess alveolar haemorrhage. As compared with IPAH, PVOD was characterised by a higher percentage of haemosiderin-laden macrophages (40±37 versus 3±6%), resulting in elevated Golde scores (81±88 versus 4±10). It was concluded that occult alveolar haemorrhage is a common feature of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease. Detecting occult alveolar haemorrhage may be of interest in the diagnostic approach of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease.