Bacteriological and cytological findings of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids in foals with lower respiratory tract diseases

Abstract

Lower respiratory tract disease is one of the most common causes of economic loss in foals. There are several methods used for the diagnosis of this disease. Bronchoalveolar lavage is one of the most important technique for bacteriological and cytological examination. The aim of this study was to evaluate BAL samples' cytologic and bacteriologic examination of foals with lower respiratory tract disease. In the comparison of cytologic examination of BAL samples with bacterial agents and without bacterial agents statistical differences in the percentage of neutophils, macrophages (P<0.001) and lymphocytes (P<0.05) were defined. Also according to the bacteriologic examination results of the BAL samples in 20 foals following agents were mainly detected: Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (10), Staphylococcus aereus (7), Escherichia coli (3). Totally 25 aerobic/facultative gram (+) and gram (-) bacils were isolated. In conclusion, the BAL technic is useful for cytological and bacteriological examination in horses with lower respiratory tract diseases.