Bronchoalveolar lavage in the diagnosis of bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma. A case report.

Bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma is usually localized to the terminal bronchioles and alveoli, and may present on chest X-ray as interstitial pulmonary disease with diffuse reticulonodular infiltrates. The cytological diagnosis is often difficult to obtain. This case demonstrates that bronchoalveolar lavage can be useful in the diagnostic evaluation of this type of malignancy, in conjunction with transbronchial lung biopsy.