Bronchoalveolar lavage in asbestosis.

The interstitial lung disease associated with asbestosis is unique in that the etiological agent and its effects on the pulmonary parenchyma can be studied on a serial basis using bronchoalveolar lavage. In this way both disease activity and structural derangements can be assessed and used in the treatment of the affected individual. In this review, attention has been drawn to the cascade of inflammatory changes induced by asbestos fibers. The activated inflammatory cells are responsible for the alveolitis characteristic of this condition. Like the other forms of diffuse interstitial lung disease, it is the alveolitis that precedes and predicts eventual fibrosis.