Differential cell counts in canine cytocentrifuged bronchoalveolar lavage fluid: a study on reliable enumeration of each cell type.

Background: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) allows cell recovery from the lower respiratory tract; differential cell counts of BAL fluid gives important information in the assessment of various bronchial and pulmonary diseases. To the best of our knowledge no study has investigated the relation between the number of cells counted and the reproducibility of BAL fluid differential cell counts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate using statistical methods how many cells should be counted in cytocentrifuged BAL fluid preparations in order to obtain a reliable enumeration of each cell type.

Methods: BAL fluid samples from dogs with suspected bronchopulmonary disease were obtained during fiberoptic bronchoscopy with a standardized protocol. Differential cell counts were performed on May-Grünwald-Giemsa-stained cytocentrifuged preparations by 2 independent observers. Reproducibility for the enumeration of each cell type was expressed as the intraclass correlation coefficient. We considered a threshold level of >or=0.90 to be high and a threshold level of >or=0.85 to be adequate.

Results: Forty BAL fluid samples were included in the study. For neutrophils, alveolar macrophages, and eosinophils high reproducibility was reached by counting 200 cells; adequate reproducibility was reached for lymphocytes and bronchial epithelial cells by counting 500 cells.

Conclusions: A 500-cell differential count is required for all types of cells to be quantified with adequate reproducibility in canine cytocentrifuged BAL fluid samples.