BRONCOALVEOLAR WASH: PROPOSAL OF A CUTTING POINT FOR LDH IN THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY DISEASES

ANABELA ANGELERI; ADRIANA ROCHER; BEATRIZ CARACCIOLO; BENJAMIN BARAKIAN; SANDRA MUZETTI; PATRICIA VUJACICH; LUIS PALAORO; BEATRIZ PERAZZI

Clinical Infection and Inmunity

Elmer Press

Año: 2017 vol. 2 p. 1 - 4

2371-4972

Introduction: The analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is of great clinical utility in the diagnosis of pulmonary diseases (PD). The cytological study (total and differential cell count) is performed routinely in these samples, has a high orientative power and is diagnostic in some cases. The study of soluble substances has provided little information.Objective: To determine the cut-off point of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the diagnosis of different lung diseases.Materials and Methods: 243 BAL were selected from a total of 306 patients with a single respiratory disease: Acute pneumonia due to common germs (NCG) n = 126, Tuberculosis (TB) n = 20, Mycotic pneumonia (MN) n = 12, N = 37 and Interstitial Diseases (ID) n = 48.Cytological study and measurement of LDH activity were performed. The mean, standard deviation, Sensitivity (S), Specificity (Sp) and Youden´s Index (YI) of this enzyme were determined. Statistical methods: Student´s parametric and non-parametric Mann-Whitney test (p