[The role of broncho-alveolar lavage in clinical pneumology and research].

Bronchoalveolar lavage is a recently developed technique which serves to sample the cells free in the alveolar spaces. It has thus been found that many pulmonary interstitial disorders are characterized by increased cellularity involving lymphocytes and/or polymorphonuclears, neutrophils or eosinophils. Bronchoalveolar lavage is rarely of diagnostic use but may provide interesting information on the inflammatory activity of many pulmonary diseases. Bronchoalveolar lavage appears to be a promising tool for study of the pathogenesis of these diseases.