Bronchoalveolar lavage in liquid paraffin pneumonitis.

We evaluated cells and lipids recovered in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from seven patients with liquid paraffin pneumonitis. For each patient, the BALF was whitish with oil droplets on the surface. Alveolar macrophages contained numerous, large vacuoles that did not react with May-Grunwald-Giemsa, Papanicolaou, or periodic acid-Schiff but were stained in black with Sudan B, orange with Sudan III and red with oil Red O.

Treatment of brain metastases of lung cancer with high doses of etoposide (VP16-213). Cooperative study from the Groupe Franais Pneumo-Cancérologie.

To study the efficacy of etoposide in brain metastases of lung carcinoma, etoposide was given during 3 consecutive days. The total dose of 1500 mg/m2 was divided into six 1 h perfusions delivered over 3 days to 19 patients having squamous (7), large cell (3), small cell (5) or adenocarcinoma (4). Response to chemotherapy was assessed by means of computerized tomography (CT) before and 15-30 days after the last course of chemotherapy (course interval = 28 days, maximum of four courses).

Chemical analysis of the bronchoalveolar washing fluid in the diagnosis of liquid paraffin pneumonia.

Lipid analyses of the bronchoalveolar washing fluid of three patients affected with chronic unidentified pneumonia showed the presence of a major hydrophobic compound identified as paraffin oil by thin layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy and gas liquid chromatography (by comparison with various paraffin preparations as standards). Moreover the phospholipid and neutral lipid composition was determined. In conclusion, the usefulness of bronchoalveolar lavage and its biochemical analysis is discussed as a non-invasive method of diagnosis and therapeutic approach to liquid paraffin pneumonia (in the cases herein described, between 100 and 500 mg of paraffin oil were extracted from 100 ml of bronchoalveolar washing fluid.