Aims : Bronchoscopy is widely used for sampling biological material used for research tools. This workshop will provide practical skills for clinical and research purposes. Previous experience in this field is not required. Workstation 1: The indications and procedures that are useful for starting up a protocol that involves research bronchoscopies will be identified. The following will also be discussed: how to select the participating individuals (patients and control subjects); issues around obtaining informed consent; safety procedures; and technical issues that should be considered when obtaining bronchoscopic samples such as bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and bronchial biopsies.
Workstation 2: The steps involved in processing BAL samples will be discussed, including BAL collection, the preparation of cytological smears, and preparation for further analyses of the cells and solutes contained in the BAL.
Workstation 3: The steps in bronchial tissue collection and preparation will be demonstrated along with the processing procedures used to fix and embed tissue, and then cut and stain the tissue blocks. Immunohistochemical applications and evaluation of tissue immunostaining will also be presented and discussed.
Workstation 4: Participants will be briefed on the different cytological and histological patterns of bronchoscopic samples. A practical approach towards categorising samples and quantifying inflammatory cells and biomarkers, and how to use the results for clinical and research purposes, will be illustrated.