Non-bronchoscopic Bronchoalveolar Lavage as a Refinement for Safely Obtaining High-quality Samples from Macaques.

Nonbronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (NB-BAL) is a minimally invasive diagnostic and research tool used to sample the cells of lower airways and alveoli without using a bronchoscope. Our study compared NB-BAL and bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (B-BAL) in terms of costs, cell yields, and the number of post-procedural complications in macaques. We also analyzed procedure times, BAL fluid volume yields, and vital signs in a subset of animals that underwent NB-BAL.