RECOVERY OF VIRUSES OTHER THAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS FROM BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE FLUID

Study design: To determine the yield and diagnostic significance of pe rforming viral cultures on specimens obtained by bronchoalveolar lavag e (BAL) in immunocompromised patients. Design: Review of all BAL speci mens submitted for viral culture over a six-year period. Setting: Refe rral laboratory within a university hospital. The majority of specimen s came from the university hospital, and for those cases, review of th e patient's underlying disease, clinical presentation, and outcome was performed.Patients: Over 95 percent of the patients had recognized un derlying immunosuppression. Intervention: None. Measurement and result s: Cultures were done on 1,199 BAL specimens for viruses, and in 90 (8 percent), non-cytomegalovirus (CMV) viruses were recovered. These inc luded herpes virus (53), influenza (11), parainfluenza (7), rhinovirus (12), adenovirus (5), enterovirus (1), and respiratory synctial virus (1). Complete medical records were available for 1,020 (85 percent) o f the BAL specimens, and the 77 patients with non-CMV viral pneumonia were studied in more detail. In 31 (40 percent) patients, virus was th e only potential pathogen recovered. Conclusion: The recovery of respi ratory viruses followed epidemic trends in the community and was often associated with self-limited illnesses without an increased mortality . The isolation of herpesvirus in patients without AIDS was associated with increased mortality in comparison with patients with AIDS (p<0.0 1). This study demonstrates that viruses other than CMV may be recover ed from BAL of patients with lower respiratory disease nad may be the only pathogen recovered.