Risk factors for morbidity and death in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of CT diagnosed bronchiectatic patients

Adult patients seen at our department between June 2006 and November 2009 were recruited if the key string "bronchiect-" was mentioned in electronic clinical records and if chest CT imaging was available. Clinical records of all patients with confirmed radiologic diagnosis of bronchiectasis were reviewed and clinical characteristics were analyzed.539 patients with a radiographic diagnosis of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis were identified in a retrospective cross-sectional analysis giving a prevalence of 2.6% in our hospital population. A wide range of etiologies was found with idiopathic bronchiectasis in 26%. In the 41 months interval, 57 patients (10.6%) died. We found a median exacerbation rate of 1.94 per year. Bacterial colonization status was associated with more deaths, exacerbation rate, symptoms and reduced pulmonary function. Pulmonary hypertension was found in 48% of our patients.We evaluated a large non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis population, and provided new epidemiological data on associations between clinical characteristics and deaths and morbidity in these patients.First described by Rene Theophile La？nnec in 1819, bronchiectasis (BX) are now defined as permanently dilated airways due to chronic bronchial inflammation caused by inappropriate clearance of various microorganisms and recurrent or chronic infection [1,2]. Diagnosing BX has become significantly easier with the advent of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT), which has proved to be highly sensitive for demonstrating bronchiectatic change in the airways [3]. Overall, postinfectious and idiopathic BX are the most frequent cause of non-CF bronchiectasis (NCFB), although the list of potential etiologies is extensive [4-6].In the past, several studies evaluated clinical and microbiological characteristics of this NCFB population [5-13]. Although these studies identified a number of risk factors associated with lung function decline, the populations studied are limited due to referr