Bronchoscopy
STERILE
Bronchoscopy was performed 6 h after exposure with a flexible video bronchoscope (EB-580S, FUJIFILM Corporation, Japan). Topical anaesthesia with lidocaine was applied to the pharynx and bronchial tree. Bronchial wash (BW) 2 × 20 ml and Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) 3 × 60 ml with sterile saline were performed. Aspirates from BW and BAL were placed on ice in separate siliconized containers. Lavage samples were filtered through a nylon filter (100 µm) and centrifuged at 400 × g for 15 min. Cell pellets were resuspended in 0.9% NaCl at a concentration of 10