[Pulmonary eosinophilia in asthmatic patients: after radiography, bronchoalveolar lavage].

The technique of broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) can be used without difficulty in asthmatic patients. The authors studied 17 patients with high eosinophil counts (greater than 20 p. 100) and followed them up for 6 to 12 months. An increase in total cell counts in BAL was observed which was in direct correlation with the percentage of eosinophils; chest X-ray showed no evidence of pulmonary infiltration in any of the cases; 9 patients were steroid dependent. These observations indicate that radiological pulmonary infiltrates in asthmatic patients which is a real disease entity does not cover the whole spectrum of deep pulmonary changes in this condition. Broncho-alveolar lavage is a valuable mean of assessing the degree of local eosinophilia to compare the inflammatory disease of the distal airways with the rest of the asthmatic changes. It may contribute to a better understanding of the asthmatic syndrome; many facets of which are indeed still obscure.