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.
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2020-03-09 PubMed ID: 32145836DOI: 10.1016/j.cveq.2019.12.006Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Review
- Asthma
- Bronchoalveolar Lavage
- Clinical Examination
- Clinical Pathology
- Comparative Study
- Diagnosis
- Diagnostic Technique
- Disease Diagnosis
- Disease Treatment
- Equine Diseases
- Equine Health
- Horses
- Respiratory Disease
- Respiratory Health
- Trachea
- Veterinary Care
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Practice
- Veterinary Procedure
- Veterinary Research
Summary
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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
Researcher Affiliations
- 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.
- 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.- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- Lendl L, Barton AK. Equine Asthma Diagnostics: Review of Influencing Factors and Difficulties in Diagnosing Subclinical Disease. Animals (Basel) 2024 Dec 4;14(23).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Simões J, Tilley P. Decision Making in Severe Equine Asthma-Diagnosis and Monitoring. Animals (Basel) 2023 Dec 16;13(24).
- 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.
- 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.
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