Objective To evaluate the efficacy of long-term inhaled salmeterol / fluticasone combined with low-dose oral erythromycin in patients with bronchiectasis. Methods Sixty-two patients with bronchiectasis after exacerbation and maintained stable were randomly divided into three groups. Group A was treated with low-dose oral erythromycin, group B inhaled salmeterol/fluticasone, and group C inhaled salmeterol/fluticasone plus low-dose oral erythromycin. The study duration lasted for 6 months. The clinical symptoms, dyspnea scale, exacerbation frequency, and pulmonary function parameters were measured and compared. Results Fifty-four patients completed the whole study and 8 cases withdrew. The results showed that 6 months of low-dose erythromycin therapy can improve the clinical symptoms, whille exacerbation frequency was also decreased. Inhaled salmeterol/fluticasone improved lung function, however, had no effect on cough, expectoration and exacerbation frequency. Inhaled salmeterol/fluticasone combined with erythromycin was more significantly effective in improving lung functions as well as symptoms. Conclusions Long-terminhaled salmeterol/fluticasone combined with low-dose oral erythromycin can improve the clinical symptoms and lung function, decrease the frequency of exacerbation in patients with bronchiectasis. It may be as an alternative to the maintenance treatment of bronchiectasis.
Objective To investigate the cardiovascular events (CVE) and survival status of patients with bronchiectasis (BE) during follow-up after acute exacerbation. Methods Prospective cohort study was used. Clinical data of 134 BE patients with acute exacerbation who were hospitalized from July 2016 to September 2020 were collected. The patients were followed up after discharge by phone or respiratory clinic every 3 months until November 2022. CVE or death was the endpoint event. Result During the follow-up period, 41 patients developed CVE, while 93 patients did not. Fifty-one patients died during the follow-up period, with a mortality rate of 38.06%. Among them, 41 cases of CVE resulted in 21 deaths, with a mortality rate of 51.22%; 30 cases died in 93 non-CVE patients, with a mortality rate of 32.26%. Logistic regression results showed significant influencing factors for CVE in BE patients were age, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and moderate to severe illness. The significant influencing factors for the death of BE patients were age, COPD, moderate and severe illness, and CVE events. The significant influencing factors for the death of CVE patients were age and receiving CVE treatment. The area under ROC curve (AUC) and 95%CI was 0.858 (0.729 - 0.970) for the warning model for CVE in BE patients. The AUC (95%CI) was 0.867 (0.800 - 0.927) for the warning model for death in BE patients. The AUC (95%CI) was 0.811 (0.640 - 0.976) for the warning model for death of CVE patients. Conclusions Population factors and comorbidities are risk factors for CVE in BE patients after acute exacerbation. The appearance of CVE worsens the long-term prognosis of BE patients. The corresponding warning models have high warning effectiveness with AUC>0.8.
Objective To improve the knowledge of kartagener syndrome and the understanding of primary ciliary dyskinesia ( PCD) . Methods Three cases of Kartagener syndrome were reported and analyzed on clinical manifestations, symptoms, imaging appearances of chest, and family history. Meanwhile the related literatures were reviewed. Results The three patients deserved special recognition because of recurrent upper and lower respiratory tract infection. Of them, the third case showed mainly the symptoms of nasosinusitis at an early age, and the distinct pulmonary symptoms appeared in his adulthood. Further examination showed that the triad of chronic sinusitis, bronchiectasis, and situs inversus is present in all cases. The parents of the two cases were consanguineous marriaged. Examination of the bronchial mucosal biopsy specimen of the first case under transmission electron microscopy showed cilia with the absence of inner dynein arms. The three cases got improvement after treatment of anti-infection and expectorant. Conclusion For patients with recurring infection in the upper and lower respiratory tract from infancy, the possibility of PCD should be considered no matter whether a situs inversus exists.
Objective To study the correlation of preoperative hemoglobin amount with venous thromboembolism (VTE) after surgical treatment of bronchiectasis and the clinical significance. Methods A retrospective study was performed on patients with bronchiectasis who underwent surgical treatment in our center from June 2017 to November 2021. The differences in blood parameters between the VTE patients and non-VTE patients were compared. The relationship between preoperative hemoglobin and VTE was confirmed by quartile grouping and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results A total of 122 patients were enrolled, including 50 males and 72 females, with a mean age of 52.52±12.29 years. The overall incidence of VTE after bronchiectasis was 9.02% (11/122). Preoperative hemoglobin amount (OR=0.923, 95%CI 0.870-0.980, P=0.008) and D-dimer amount (OR=1.734, 95%CI 1.087-2.766, P=0.021) were independent influencing factors for VTE after bronchiectasis. The incidence of VTE after bronchiectasis decreased gradually with the increase of preoperative hemoglobin amount. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of postoperative D-dimer alone was 0.757, whereas the AUC of postoperative D-dimer combined with preoperative hemoglobin amount was 0.878. Conclusion Low preoperative hemoglobin is an independent risk factor for postoperative VTE. Postoperative D-dimer combined with preoperative hemoglobin amount has a better predictive performance compared with postoperative D-dimer alone for postoperative VTE.
Objective To explore the causal relationship between the Collagen VI (COL6) family proteins COL6A1, A2, and A3 and bronchiectasis using the Mendelian randomization (MR) method.MethodsThe primary analysis was conducted using MR combined with summary-data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR) analysis. COL6 family proteins were used as exposure data, and bronchiectasis was used as outcome data. Cis-protein quantitative trait locus (cis-pQTL) data were extracted for analysis, and the results were meta-analyzed. Subsequently, COL6A3-cis-pQTL data from the UK Biobank plasma proteome study were used for further validation. Colocalization analysis was also performed to further explore the association between COL6 proteins and bronchiectasis.Results MR and SMR results revealed a negative causal relationship between COL6A3 and bronchiectasis (p-MRmeta = 0.005, OR = 0.30; p-SMRmeta = 0.004, OR = 0.26). The validation phase also confirmed the negative causal relationship between COL6A3 and bronchiectasis (p-MRmeta = 0.000007, OR = 0.27; p-SMRmeta = 0.0003, OR = 0.29). Colocalization analysis supported the presence of a shared causal variant (rs972974) between COL6A3 and bronchiectasis (PP.H4 = 0.967/0.876).Conclusion There is an inverse causal relationship between COL6A3 and bronchiectasis. Low expression of COL6A3 increases the risk of developing bronchiectasis, making COL6A3 a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for drug development in bronchiectasis.
Objective A series of N-of-1 trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) individualized syndrome differentiation on stable bronchiectasis, and to explore a clinical trial method that is consistent with the characteristics of TCM. Methods The original plan consisted of 3 cycles, with each cycle consisting of two observation periods: experimental and control. Take the medication for 3 weeks each period and then stop for 1 week. Because the results were not as expected, another cycle of trials was added (a total of 4 cycles). The trial period was treated with individualized syndrome differentiation prescription and the control period was treated with placebo. The outcome measures were Likert scale score of general symptoms (primary outcome), Likert scale score of respiratory symptoms, CAT score, 24h sputum volume and TCM symptom score. Data analysis (including residual effects and stage effects analysis) used group-designed independent sample t tests, paired t tests or non-parametric tests, mixed effects models, and Bayesian analysis. Results A total of 31 participants were formally enrolled, with 24 completing all four cycles. Independent sample t-tests and mixed-effects models showed no significant period or carryover effects. Bayesian analysis showed that there were residual effects on some outcome measures of some individuals. Six participants showed statistically significant differences in overall symptom Likert scale scores (P<0.05). Bayesian analysis found that TCM was more effective than placebo in more individuals. No significant differences were found between individualized TCM and placebo at the group level for any of the outcome measures. Conclusion This study method highly simulates the clinical practice of TCM, with good operability and patient compliance, and has no obvious residual effect of TCM on the whole, which can provide the best individualized evidence-based medicine evidence of short-term efficacy of TCM. Bayesian analysis can improve the sensitivity of individual statistics.
ObjectiveTo analyze the microbiological characteristics of airway bacteria in adult patients with bronchiectasis and to analyze their correlation with the clinical features. MethodsPatients diagnosed with bronchiectasis in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of West China Hospital of Sichuan University from October 2017 to April 2018 were classified into the bronchiectasis group, while the control group was those who were found to have pulmonary nodules (diameter less than 10 mm) requiring bronchoscopy by physical examination. All subjects in both groups had not used antibiotics or hormones within 4 weeks and had no other respiratory diseases. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from the lesion site of the branchial expansion group was collected, and BALF from the basal segment of the contralateral inferior bronchial lobe of the pulmonary nodule was collected in the control group. Bacterial culture and 16S rRNA gene sequencing were performed in both groups. ResultsSeventeen cases and six controls were enrolled in this study and the BALF specimens were collected. Eight cases were in stable period and nine cases were in acute period. The case group was divided into the bacteria-positive group and negative group based on bacterial culture of BALF. Shannon index in the bacteria-positive group was significantly lower than the bacteria-negative group and the control group. And Shannon index showed a negative correlation with positive bacterial culture in BALF. When Shannon index ≤4.5 was used to predict positive bacterial culture, the sensitivity and specificity were 83.3% and 90.9% respectively. The average relative abundance of bacteria was higher and the average sample distribution uniformity was lower in patients with acute period, compared with those in patients with stable period. Shannon index was negatively correlated with the acute exacerbation in patients. When Shannon index <5.0 was used to predict acute exacerbation, the sensitivity and specificity were 77.8% and 100.0%, respectively. ConclusionsShannon index in 16S rRNA gene sequencing results has certain predictive value for acute exacerbation stage. 16S rRNA gene sequencing combined with bacterial culture results can help guide clinicians to provide more precise treatment plans.