Effect of repetitive bronchoalveolar lavage on cytologic findings in healthy dogs

Objective-To determine reference values for cytologic examination results o f bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and to investigate effects of repeate d lavages on pulmonary health and on results of cytologic examination of BA LF in dogs. Animals-16 healthy adult Beagles. Procedure-All dogs underwent pulmonary lavage to obtain BALF. Eleven dogs w ere repeatedly lavaged 6 times at 5- to 7-week intervals. Analyses for tota l and differential cell counts and for viability of cells before and after cell processing were performed. Arterial blood gas analysis before and afte r bronchoalveolar lavage was used to study the safety of the lavage procedu re. Histologic and radiologic examinations were used to study effects of re peated lavages on pulmonary health. Results-Mean (+/- SD) cell count was 104 +/- 69 cells/mul, comprising 75 +/ - 7% alveolar macrophages, 13 +/- 6% lymphocytes, 5 +/- 4% neutrophils, 4 /- 5% eosinophils, 2 +/- 2% mast cells, 0.6 +/- 0.7% epithelial cells, and 0.3 +/- 0.4% plasma cells. Centrifugation of samples and washing of cells c aused significant cell loss (59 +/- 13%). Repeated lavages did not cause si gnificant variations in cell counts of BALF or results of arterial blood ga s analysis, thoracic radiography, or histologic examination of pulmonary sp ecimens. Only a moderate, although significant, decrease in arterial oxygen content was observed after bronchoalveolar lavage. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Analysis indicated that several lavages performed at 5- to 7-week intervals can safely and reliably be used to stud y the kinetics of pathologic processes in pulmonary tissues or for evaluati on of therapeutic efficacy.