PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of bronchoscopy in diagnosis of pulmonary disease in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. METHODS: This study analyses a group of 49 patients with AIDS diagnosis admitted at Nereu Ramos Hospital - Florianópolis - SC. It was selected patients with respiratory simptoms and radiologic signs of pulmonary disease, without etiological diagnosis by sputum analysis. These patients were submitted to bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage, bronchial brush and transbronchial biopsy. The samples were analyzed by BAAR, cytomegalovirus, P. carinii, other fungus and bacterioscopy by Gram. RESULTS: The bronchoscopy was effective on the realization of etiological diagnosis of 71,43% of the cases. The transbronchial biopsy was the most positive technique which confirmed the diagnosis of 59,18% of the cases. The technique with the least positivity was the bronchial brush, with a diagnosis of 4,08% of the cases. The most frequent etiological agent was P. carinii (42,8%), followed by M. tuberculosis (22,86%). No complication was observed in the procedures making. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this present study was that the bronchoscopy is a secure procedure, with good diagnosis performance for pulmonary disease in this group of patients.
Human immunodeficiency virus; Diagnostic techniques
