Comparison of bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage findings in three types of suppurative lung disease.

Background: Endobronchial suppuration is present in children with protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB), bronchiectasis, and cystic fibrosis (CF). However, no studies have directly compared bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) findings across these conditions within a single center using the same techniques and with shared community pathogens.

Aim: To determine; (i) the bronchoscopic findings and BAL microbiology and cellularity among children with these conditions and; (ii) the relationship between bacterial pathogens, airway cellularity and aberrant macroscopic bronchoscopic findings.