Bronchoalveolar lavage for the diagnosis of Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis

BALF Langerhans cells are not increased in PLCH. However, PLCH is characterised by a low expression of CD80 on BALF myeloid DCs. Due to its considerably higher sensitivity and specificity, this marker appears to be more appropriate to diagnose PLCH than the currently recommended marker CD1a.