Bronchoalveolar Fluid Analysis Test

Bronchoalveolar lavage is performed during flexible bronchoscopy where it indeed possess high importance due to the information it conveys about the immunologic, inflammatory, and infectious processes at the alveolar level all in all. It is highly used to study and sort out any of the prevailing lung diseases as well as infections at that particular time and also study the functioning of the patient’s respiratory system. Though there are many methods available for such issues, BAL method has got a lot of recognition due to the efficiency and the effectiveness of the test results on the whole.

There requires no special preparation for this test and all one has to do is to follow the doctor’s instructions strictly regarding the meal and it is highly advised to reach the test area before the specified time as it gets to make oneself a lot comfortable before undergoing the test. The symptoms and the medications apart from allergies (if any) has to be detailed to the doctor by the patient himself and this can enable him to provide suggestions before undergoing the test.

This bronchoalveolar lavage is used to handle the cases of people with some significant immune problems and apart from that this can also be helpful for the people with pneumonia on ventilators, person who has a certain lung cancer etc. T-cell populations, influenza virus levels and other pathogens can be detected with the help of this test and therefore, it can be regarded as one of the most useful tests in handling the lung disorders on the whole.

The procedure used for this test slightly deviates from that of the regular blood or urine tests where certain unfamiliar steps are usually followed. Initially a bronchoscope is passed through the mouth or nose where the fluid is actually squirted into the part of the lung and the fluid sample is then collected. The sample is then sent to laboratory for some thorough examination and sort out the health condition of that particular person.