Early involvement of the bronchi in patients with malignant lymphoma

Fibreoptic bronchoscopy in previously untreated patients with malignant lymphoma provided diagnostic information in 8 of 25 cases with radiological evidence of intrathoracic involvement. There was a marked difference in the pattern of endobronchial involvement between Hodgkin's Disease (HD) and Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) which specifically infiltrated the bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue. Bronchoalveolar lavage was abnormal in only one patient with Hodgkin's Disease in whom the presence of many Sternberg-Reed cells suggested occult dissemination of otherwise localised disease.