[Recommendations for diagnostic bronchoalveolar lavage. German Society of Pneumology].

The working group "BAL" was established to develop guidelines and recommendations for the practical application of BAL. The indications and complications of the technique are shown, followed by recommendations for the bronchoscopic procedure to collect the samples, for the laboratory processing of the specimen and for the evaluation of the cytological preparations. Guidelines for the interpretation of BAL findings are given. Some normal values from the literature are listed. Disease characteristic changes are presented.