Analyze Diet
The Veterinary clinics of North America. Equine practice2020; 36(1); 87-103; doi: 10.1016/j.cveq.2019.12.006

Airway Diagnostics: Bronchoalveolar Lavage, Tracheal Wash, and Pleural Fluid.

Abstract: Indications for bronchoalveolar lavage, tracheal wash, and thoracocentesis for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases are discussed. Each technique is described in detail and illustrated by videos. Sample handling, preparation and evaluation are reviewed. The advantages and limitations of bronchoalveolar lavage and tracheal wash procedures as well as a critical comparison between the 2 techniques for equine asthma diagnosis are presented. Finally, validated cut-off values for equine asthma diagnosis are reviewed.
Publication Date: 2020-03-09 PubMed ID: 32145836DOI: 10.1016/j.cveq.2019.12.006Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
  • Journal Article
  • Review

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The study discusses the use of bronchoalveolar lavage, tracheal wash, and thoracocentesis as diagnostic procedures for respiratory diseases, with a focus on equine asthma diagnosis. It provides details regarding the procedure, sample handling, evaluation, advantages, limitations and compares the two techniques.

Respiratory Diagnostic Techniques

  • The research paper talks about the diagnostic techniques used in the identification of respiratory diseases. The main techniques that the paper highlights are bronchoalveolar lavage, tracheal wash, and thoracocentesis.
  • Each of these techniques is discussed in detail, with visual aids provided to augment understanding. In essence, these techniques have to do with extracting various fluids from the respiratory tract or the pleural cavity for diagnostic purposes.

Sample Handling, Preparation, and Evaluation

  • Another aspect of the research paper is the handling, preparation, and evaluation of the samples collected through the previously mentioned techniques.
  • This process is crucial because the quality of sample preparation and evaluation will affect the reliability of the diagnosis significantly.

Advantages and Limitations of Diagnostic Techniques

  • The strengths and weaknesses of bronchoalveolar lavage and tracheal wash procedures are discussed in the paper.
  • This comparative analysis of the two techniques provides insights into their efficacy and potential drawbacks, helping clinicians to select the technique most suitable for a particular condition or circumstance.

Focus on Equine Asthma Diagnosis

  • One of the key focuses of the research paper is equine asthma diagnosis.
  • The use of bronchoalveolar lavage and tracheal wash in diagnosing equine asthma is critically analyzed and compared.
  • In addition, the study reviews cut-off values that have been validated for use in the diagnosis of equine asthma. Cut-off values are threshold indicators that, when reached, indicate a positive diagnosis of a condition. In this case, the research provides validated values specific to equine asthma.

Cite This Article

APA
Couetil LL, Thompson CA. (2020). Airway Diagnostics: Bronchoalveolar Lavage, Tracheal Wash, and Pleural Fluid. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract, 36(1), 87-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cveq.2019.12.006

Publication

ISSN: 1558-4224
NlmUniqueID: 8511904
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 36
Issue: 1
Pages: 87-103
PII: S0749-0739(19)30075-6

Researcher Affiliations

Couetil, Laurent L
  • Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2026, USA. Electronic address: couetill@purdue.edu.
Thompson, Craig A
  • Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, 725 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2027, USA.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Asthma / diagnosis
  • Asthma / pathology
  • Asthma / veterinary
  • Bronchoalveolar Lavage / veterinary
  • Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / cytology
  • Horse Diseases / diagnosis
  • Horse Diseases / pathology
  • Horses
  • Pleural Effusion / pathology
  • Pleural Effusion / veterinary
  • Respiratory Tract Diseases / diagnosis
  • Respiratory Tract Diseases / pathology
  • Respiratory Tract Diseases / veterinary
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / diagnosis
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / pathology
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / veterinary

Citations

This article has been cited 20 times.
  1. Morini M, Gobbo F, Rinnovati R, Romagnoli N, Peli A, Massarenti C, Spadari A, Pietra M. Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cytology in Severe Equine Asthma: Cytocentrifugated versus Sediment Smear Preparations. Vet Sci 2023 Aug 16;10(8).
    doi: 10.3390/vetsci10080527pubmed: 37624314google scholar: lookup
  2. Wu P, Weng H, Luo W, Zhan Y, Xiong L, Zhang H, Yan H. An improved Yolov5s based on transformer backbone network for detection and classification of bronchoalveolar lavage cells. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023;21:2985-3001.
    doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.05.008pubmed: 37249972google scholar: lookup
  3. Sage SE, Nicholson P, Peters LM, Leeb T, Jagannathan V, Gerber V. Single-cell gene expression analysis of cryopreserved equine bronchoalveolar cells. Front Immunol 2022;13:929922.
    doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.929922pubmed: 36105804google scholar: lookup
  4. Karagianni AE, Kurian D, Cillán-Garcia E, Eaton SL, Wishart TM, Pirie RS. Training associated alterations in equine respiratory immunity using a multiomics comparative approach. Sci Rep 2022 Jan 10;12(1):427.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04137-3pubmed: 35013475google scholar: lookup
  5. Karagianni AE, Eaton SL, Kurian D, Cillán-Garcia E, Twynam-Perkins J, Raper A, Wishart TM, Pirie RS. Application across species of a one health approach to liquid sample handling for respiratory based -omics analysis. Sci Rep 2021 Jul 12;11(1):14292.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93839-9pubmed: 34253818google scholar: lookup
  6. Bocking T, Singh B. Light and electron-microscopic localization of CD9 and surfactant protein A and D in normal lungs of the horse. Can J Vet Res 2021 Jul;85(3):170-176.
    pubmed: 34248260
  7. Morini M, Peli A, Rinnovati R, Magazzù G, Romagnoli N, Spadari A, Pietra M. Immunohistochemical Expression of Neurokinin-A and Interleukin-8 in the Bronchial Epithelium of Horses with Severe Equine Asthma Syndrome during Asymptomatic, Exacerbation, and Remission Phase. Animals (Basel) 2021 May 12;11(5).
    doi: 10.3390/ani11051376pubmed: 34066204google scholar: lookup
  8. Pei M, Jiang P, Wang T, Xia C, Hou R, Sun A, Zou H. Effect of bronchoalveolar lavage on the clinical efficacy, inflammatory factors, and immune function in the treatment of refractory pneumonia in children. Transl Pediatr 2021 Apr;10(4):921-928.
    doi: 10.21037/tp-21-89pubmed: 34012841google scholar: lookup
  9. Pınar O, Çelik Doğan C, Aktaran Bala D, Kumaş C, Mete A. Analysis of the presence of Beta-hemolytic streptococci and cytological profiles in horse tracheal lavage samples with diverse clinical respiratory symptoms. BMC Vet Res 2025 Oct 2;21(1):558.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-025-05011-4pubmed: 41039541google scholar: lookup
  10. Savitske BJ, Dulli RJ, Paul NC, Washburn KE. Transtracheal Wash Fluid Collection and Analysis in Healthy Goats. J Vet Intern Med 2025 Sep-Oct;39(5):e70211.
    doi: 10.1111/jvim.70211pubmed: 40958735google scholar: lookup
  11. Lendl L, Wirth C, Merle R, Barton AK. Influence of a Standardized Lunging Exercise Test on BALF Cytology in Horses Suffering from Mild-Moderate Equine Asthma. Animals (Basel) 2025 Aug 19;15(16).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15162428pubmed: 40867756google scholar: lookup
  12. Hu M, Shen X, Li M, Ding J, Zhang Y. Efficacy of bronchoalveolar lavage in treating mycoplasma pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia with atelectasis in children. Transl Pediatr 2025 Mar 31;14(3):432-441.
    doi: 10.21037/tp-2024-593pubmed: 40225081google scholar: lookup
  13. Fegraeus K, Riihimäki M, Nordlund J, Akula S, Wernersson S, Raine A. Exploring a pico-well based scRNA-seq method (HIVE) for simplified processing of equine bronchoalveolar lavage cells. PLoS One 2025;20(1):e0317343.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317343pubmed: 39854349google scholar: lookup
  14. Lendl L, Barton AK. Equine Asthma Diagnostics: Review of Influencing Factors and Difficulties in Diagnosing Subclinical Disease. Animals (Basel) 2024 Dec 4;14(23).
    doi: 10.3390/ani14233504pubmed: 39682469google scholar: lookup
  15. Dély S, Gerber V, Peters LM, Sage SE. Association between equine asthma and fungal elements in the tracheal wash: An environment-matched case-control study. PLoS One 2024;19(9):e0309835.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309835pubmed: 39240830google scholar: lookup
  16. Chen Z, Zhang J, Gao S, Jiang Y, Qu M, Gu J, Wu H, Nan K, Zhang H, Wang J, Chen W, Miao C. Suppression of Skp2 contributes to sepsis-induced acute lung injury by enhancing ferroptosis through the ubiquitination of SLC3A2. Cell Mol Life Sci 2024 Jul 30;81(1):325.
    doi: 10.1007/s00018-024-05348-3pubmed: 39079969google scholar: lookup
  17. Lapsina S, Riond B, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Stirn M. Comparison of Sysmex XN-V body fluid mode and deep-learning-based quantification with manual techniques for total nucleated cell count and differential count for equine bronchoalveolar lavage samples. BMC Vet Res 2024 Feb 5;20(1):48.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-03884-5pubmed: 38317167google scholar: lookup
  18. Simões J, Tilley P. Decision Making in Severe Equine Asthma-Diagnosis and Monitoring. Animals (Basel) 2023 Dec 16;13(24).
    doi: 10.3390/ani13243872pubmed: 38136909google scholar: lookup
  19. Riihimäki M, Fegraeus K, Nordlund J, Waern I, Wernersson S, Akula S, Hellman L, Raine A. Single-cell transcriptomics delineates the immune cell landscape in equine lower airways and reveals upregulation of FKBP5 in horses with asthma. Sci Rep 2023 Sep 27;13(1):16261.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43368-4pubmed: 37758813google scholar: lookup
  20. Clinquart J, van Leenen K, Bokma J, Pardon B. Differentiating airway inflammation in calves based on cluster analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology. J Vet Intern Med 2023 Nov-Dec;37(6):2610-2622.
    doi: 10.1111/jvim.16855pubmed: 37731196google scholar: lookup