PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wollschlager, Christine
AU  - Khan, Faroque
TI  - Diagnostic value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
DP  - 1985 Dec 21
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 489--494
VI  - 52
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/52/4/489.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/52/4/489.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med1985 Dec 21; 52
AB  - Diagnostic results of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy done as the first invasive procedure were evaluated in 50 patients considered to have the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Five patients (10%) had nondiagnostic bronchoscopic examinations and were thought to have the pre-AIDS form of the disease, since Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) was diagnosed an average of 4.5 months later. Bronchoscopy revealed pathogens in 87% of the remaining 45 patients with AIDS and showed falsenegative results in 13%. Thirty-eight patients (84%) had PCP diagnosed on their first bronchoscopic examination. Transbronchial lung biopsy and transbronchial lung biopsy with bronchoalveolar lavage had high yields for PCP (94% and 95% respectively). Lavage alone had a lower yield (63%). Although 69 different bronchoscopy specimens were sent for mycobacterial smear and culture, only two patients were found to have mycobacteriosis (one M tuberculosis, one M avium-intracellulare). Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was found to be a safe, high-yield first procedure in AIDS patients, especially for PCP. Mycobacterial infection did not appear to be a common infection in AIDS at presentation, and the authors recommend transbronchial lung biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage be done earlier in the diagnostic evaluation of patients considered to have AIDS.