Cytological and electron microscopic findings in a bronchoalveolar lavage sample from a case of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis with radiological correlation

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare disease. The definitive diagnosis is usually made from lung biopsy or Broncho alveolar lavage (BAL) samples taken at bronchoscopy. In this case, transmission electron microscopy was performed on an aliquot of the BAL sample. This case illustrates that cytological analysis of BAL samples may be just as diagnostic as histological biopsy and TEM may be performed on BAL samples if adequate and immediate fixation is performed. Authors claim this, to the best of their knowledge, has not previously been reported.