Standardised classification of the aetiology of bronchiectasis using an objective algorithm

Bronchiectasis (BE) is a chronic and progressive respiratory disease with multiple possible causes [1, 2]. Many require a specific therapy and thus, a systematic aetiologic evaluation is recommended by guidelines [3]. Studies have shown wide heterogeneity in the proportion of different aetiologies identified among centres [4–8], which can be partially justified because of geographical risks factors, but may also reflect variations in testing practice or in the definitions of aetiology used [9]. The proportion of patients classified as idiopathic varies (26–74%) across the literature, and this variability is likely to be somewhat linked to a lack of use of a standard aetiological algorithm [4–8].

Source: European Respiratory Journal - December 14, 2017 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Araujo, D., Shteinberg, M., Aliberti, S., Goeminne, P. C., Hill, A. T., Fardon, T., Obradovic, D., Dimakou, K., Polverino, E., De Soyza, A., McDonnell, M. J., Chalmers, J. D. Tags: CF and non-CF bronchiectasis Original Articles: Research letters Source Type: research