Marco Umberto Scaramozzino¹* and Tiziana Bruno²

¹Head of Thoracic Endoscopy and Rehabilitation Pulmonology Services, Villa Aurora Hospital Reggio Calabria, Italy
²Thoracic Endoscopy Service, Villa Aurora Hospital Reggio Calabria, Italy

*Corresponding Author: Marco Umberto Scaramozzino, Head of Thoracic Endoscopy and Rehabilitation Pulmonology Services, Villa Aurora Hospital Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Received: June 12, 2025; Published: June 23, 2025

Abstract

Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) continue to represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to their broad etiology and overlapping clinical features with non-infectious pulmonary diseases. This retrospective study evaluated the diagnostic contribution of bronchoscopy with bronchoaspirate analysis in 100 patients with suspected LRTIs between 2022 and 2025. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and targeted microbiological testing led to pathogen identification in 20% of cases, isolating both common and atypical organisms. Among the 20 positive cases, pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium intracellulare, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were identified, highlighting the diagnostic superiority of bronchoscopic sampling compared to non-invasive techniques. The remaining 80% of cases had negative bronchoaspirate results, reinforcing bronchoscopy’s value even in excluding infections. Timely and accurate identification of causative pathogens facilitated appropriate antimicrobial therapy and improved clinical outcomes. Our findings underscore bronchoscopy’s essential role in the precise management of LRTIs.

 Keywords: Bronchoscopy, Bronchoaspirate; Lower Respiratory Tract Infections; BAL; Pathogen Identification; Diagnostic Yield

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Citation

Citation: Marco Umberto Scaramozzino and Tiziana Bruno. “Bronchoscopy-Guided Pathogen Identification in Suspected Lower Respiratory Tract Infections”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 9.7 (2025): 85-87.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Marco Umberto Scaramozzino and Tiziana Bruno. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.