THE ROLE OF BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE IN THE MICROBIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF PNEUMONIA IN PATIENTS WITH HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

In the aetiological diagnosis of pulmonary infections in patients affe cted by haematological malignancies we evaluated the utility of bronch oalveolar lavage (BAL). One hundred and twenty-seven BAL were performe d in 119 patients. In our series, we identified the agent of pneumonia in 53.5% of episodes with the best results in aspergillosis, very com mon in these patients. The previous empirical anti-infective treatment was modified in 14 episodes (11%). The procedure was generally well t olerated and only one patient bled. We maintain that BAL is a useful d iagnostic tool for detecting the agents of pulmonary infections in pat ients with haematological malignancies, especially when the routine mi crobiological procedures fail, and it also represents a good alternati ve to more invasive procedures.