BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE STUDIES IN CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENCHYMAL LUNG-DISEASE - CELLULAR-CONSTITUENTS AND PROTEIN-LEVELS

We evaluated bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) for cellular constitue nts, concentration of total protein (TP), albumin (AL), fibronectin (F N), and hyaluronic acid (HA) in 16 children aged 2-32 months without p ulmonary inflammatory or parenchymal disease to establish reference va lues. We compared our data to those reported in older children and in normal adult volunteers. BAL results were obtained simultaneously from the right middle lobe and the lingula. Results indicated that childre n younger than 3 years of age had a higher number of cells/mL than old er children and adults (59.9 x 10(4) VS. 17.6 X 10(4) and 12 x 10(4)). Differential cell count revealed that the percentages of alveolar mac rophages (AM), lymphocytes (LYM), and eosinophils (EOS) were similar t o those obtained in older children and in adults, whereas the percenta ge of neutrophils (NEU) was higher in younger children (NEU 5.5 vs 1.6 and 1.2%, respectively) than in older children and adults. The latter difference was even greater in infants under 12 months of age (NEU 7. 6%). The concentrations of TP, AL, FN, and HA in children's BAL sample s were compared to values reported for adults. There were no differenc es between infants and children 13-32 months of age or normal adults. BAL fluid obtained simultaneously from the middle lobe and lingula wer e not significantly different. In conclusion, this is the first report on BAL valves (cellular and noncellular constituents) in children you nger than 3 years. The results may be used as reference values for fur ther studies in children with parenchymal lung disease in this age gro up. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.