Bronchoalveolar lavage diagnosis of bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma

Differentiation between diffuse lung tumours and interstitial pulmonary diseases often requires open lung biopsy. We report two cases of bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma presenting as diffuse pulmonary disease, in which the diagnosis was made by cytological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage. Bronchoalveolar lavage can, thus, differentiate between diffuse lung tumours and interstitial pulmonary diseases.