Bronchoalveolar lavage specimens are usually split between cytology and microbiology laboratory analysis. Because different methodologies are used by these two laboratories in the work-up of these specimens, we thought it would be useful to review the results obtained on these specimens by each laboratory. Such a review might help define the relative sensitivities of the different procedures used, suggest areas of redundancy that might be candidates for elimination, and help identify the procedures most likely to produce clinically significant results. Results from the data analyzed thus far indicate that cytology preparations are more sensitive for the direct detection of significant fungal pathogens than the smears prepared in microbiology, presumably because of the larger volume of material used for preparation of smears in cytology. The data for approximately 7 years have been collected and partially analyzed to assess the relative sensitivities of the procedures performed in the two laboratories not only for fungi but also for the detection of other pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Pneumocystis carinii. Further analysis of the data has been temporarily postponed to deal with more pressing projects; we hope to complete the analysis within the next year, perhaps with the inclusion of more recent data.
