[Contribution of bronchoalveolar lavage in immunosuppressed patients].

The safety of bronchoalveolar lavage has been greatly contributed to its widespread use in immunodepressed patients. This examination has changed the diagnostic approach to many lung diseases and often eliminates the need to open the thorax to make a lung biopsy. Bronchoalveolar lavage can be used to screen for a large number of diseases, particularly those due to infectious agents. In non-infectious diseases, the contribution of bronchoalveolar lavage is more limited. The impact of molecular biology techniques remains to be established.