Objective: Chronic respiratory diseases account for 4 million deaths annually. Infections are most frequent cause of exacerbations. Bronchoalveolar lavage has improved sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic techniques in diagnosis of pulmonary infections. Materials and Methods: BAL fluid samples of patients with chronic respiratory diseases undergoing bronchoscopy in Deccan College of medical sciences and Owaisi Hospital were collected under aseptic precautions. Results: A total of 100 BAL fluid samples were studied which met the quality control criteria. Among these 60 were from male patients and 40 were from female patients. Among 100 BAL sample cultured for bacterial aetiology, Of the 100 samples processed 58 (58%) were positive for bacterial growth. Among the 58 bacterial isolates which were obtained the predominant organism was Klebsiella pnuemoniae 28 (48%) followed by Acinetobacter baumanii 12 (20.6%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 8 (13.7%), Escherichia coli 2 (3.4%), Enterobacter sps 1 (1.7%), Staphylococcus aureus 4 (6.8%), Streptococcus pneumoniae 3 (5.1%). The highest no. of isolates were in the age group of 51-60yrs followed by 61-70yrs, least no. of isolates were in the age group 18-30yrs. Conclusion: Bronchoalveolar lavage has improved sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of pulmonary infections.
