PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - P L Haslam
AU  - D A Hughes
AU  - A Dewar
AU  - C F Pantin
TI  - Lipoprotein macroaggregates in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with diffuse interstitial lung disease: comparison with idiopathic alveolar lipoproteinosis.
AID  - 10.1136/thx.43.2.140
DP  - 1988 Feb 01
TA  - Thorax
PG  - 140--146
VI  - 43
IP  - 2
4099  - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/43/2/140.short
4100  - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/43/2/140.full
SO  - Thorax1988 Feb 01; 43
AB  - Lipoprotein macroaggregates were present in cytocentrifuge preparations of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from four patients with diffuse lung diseases other than idiopathic alveolar lipoproteinosis. In three patients the primary diagnosis was cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis and in one sarcoidosis. We confirmed the presence of large multilamellar aggregates of lipoprotein by ultrastructural examination in patients with both interstitial lung disease and idiopathic alveolar lipoproteinosis. The small lamellar bodies and amorphous debris found in idiopathic alveolar lipoproteinosis were rare in the patients with interstitial lung disease. The lavage fluid from patient with interstitial lung disease did not show the substantial alterations in phospholipid composition that were seen in lavage fluid in idiopathic alveolar lipoproteinosis. These ultrastructural and biochemical features may help to distinguish idiopathic from other causes of alveolar lipoproteinosis, particularly at an early stage, when differential diagnosis may be difficult.