Abstract
Formerly regarded as a rare disease, bronchiectasis is now increasingly recognised and a renewed interest in the condition is stimulating drug development and clinical research. Bronchiectasis represents the final common pathway of a number of infectious, genetic, autoimmune, developmental and allergic disorders and is highly heterogeneous in its aetiology, impact and prognosis. The goals of therapy should be: to improve airway mucus clearance through physiotherapy with or without adjunctive therapies; to suppress, eradicate and prevent airway bacterial colonisation; to reduce airway inflammation; and to improve physical functioning and quality of life. Fortunately, an increasing body of evidence supports interventions in bronchiectasis. The field has benefited greatly from the introduction of evidence-based guidelines in some European countries and randomised controlled trials have now demonstrated the benefit of long-term macrolide therapy, with accumulating evidence for inhaled therapies, physiotherapy and pulmonary rehabilitation. This review provides a critical update on the management of bronchiectasis focussing on emerging evidence and recent randomised controlled trials.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1446-1462 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | European Respiratory Journal |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 18 Mar 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2015 |