Abstract

Evidence of occult alveolar haemorrhage was sought by Perls's staining of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid to detect haemosiderin laden macrophages in 63 human immunodeficiency virus positive (HIV-1) men who underwent bronchoscopy. Twenty three patients had bronchopulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma; occult alveolar haemorrhage was present in 16 of these (including two in whom no tracheobronchial lesions were evident at bronchoscopy, but in whom the diagnosis was confirmed at necropsy). Forty patients had other diagnoses including Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia; 18 had occult haemorrhage. Occult alveolar haemorrhage seems to be a non-specific finding in HIV-1 positive men undergoing bronchoscopy.