Swenson, Colin

Abstract Introduction Persistent dyspnea increases the risk of disability and impairs quality of life in older patients with bronchiectasis. The impact of dyspnea and fatigue on patients with bronchiectasis in long term follow-up has not been adequately established. We sought to determine if fatigue and higher-grade dyspnea are associated with worse clinical outcomes in 5-years of longitudinal follow-up. Methods We analyzed data collected from a prospective cohort of adult patients with bronchiectasis enrolled in the US Bronchiectasis and Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Research Registry. Patients with a modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea score collected at baseline and during 3-5 years of follow-up were included and stratified as mMRC<2 versus mMRC ≥2. Kruskal-Wallis, independent sample t-tests and chi-square tests were used to test the differences in medians and means for continuous variables and associations between categorical variables, respectively, between the baseline mMRC groups and bronchiectasis severity index (BSI) components at follow-up. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between dyspnea and clinical outcomes (exacerbations and hospitalizations) at follow-up. Results 1185 adult patients with bronchiectasis met the inclusion criteria. The median age (interquartile range) was 76 (68 to 83) years. At baseline, patients with mMRC ≥2 had a higher proportion of co-existing diagnoses such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), otitis/rhinosinusitis, rheumatologic disease, and pneumonia compared to patients with mMRC <2 (all p<0.05, data not shown). Furthermore, patients with mMRC > 2 compared to patients with mMRC <2 had higher prevalence of fatigue, acute exacerbations and pulmonary related hospitalizations, and lower mean percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) at follow-up (all p< 0.05) (Table 1). Interestingly, body mass index was slightly higher among those with baseline mMRC ≥2 compared to mMRC <2 (p=0.02). Among those with mMRC ≥2 at both baseline and follow-up (n=67, 42%), the odds of having ≥1 exacerbation was 2.4 times higher (odds ratio [OR] 2.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45-4.1) and 2.8 times higher for ≥1 hospitalization (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.45-5.2) during follow-up after adjusting for fatigue. Conclusion Elevated dyspnea was associated with a greater proportion of patients with bronchiectasis exhibiting acute exacerbations and pulmonary related hospitalizations and lower lung function during follow-up. Research is still needed to understand the causes (drivers) of dyspnea to implement better treatment strategies and reduce adverse outcomes in bronchiectasis patients.

Abstract Introduction: Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB) is an obstructive pulmonary disease associated with structural lung disease, altered mucociliary clearance, hyper mucus secretion, recurrent infection, and airway inflammation that results in significant morbidity and mortality. Aspergillus sp (Asp) is a common fungi isolated in respiratory specimens of those with lung disease and is associated with both infectious and allergic pulmonary diseases such as Asthma and Cystic Fibrosis. Despite individuals with NCFB having similar phenotypes as these conditions, the impact of Asp on this population is poorly understood. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional retrospective analysis from the US Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry (BRR). NCFB patients without a history of lung transplant who had at least one respiratory Asp culture were included. We compared patients with no history of Asp grown from respiratory culture to those with at least one positive respiratory culture for Asp during the available period. Patient demographics, bacterial culture history, lung function, comorbidities, modified Bronchiectasis Severity Index (mBSI), and sputum parameters were analyzed descriptively. Comparisons between groups were conducted using Kruskal-Wallis, independent sample t-tests, and chi-square tests for continuous and categorical variables as appropriate. Results: 3985 people with NCFB met inclusion criteria. 3359 (84.3%) individuals were Asp culture negative compared to 626 (15.7%) individuals with Asp. There were notable differences in race, showing higher proportions of non-Hispanic white (90.4 vs 82.2%) in this population. While the frequency of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia were similar, there were more individuals with Asthma (31.3 vs 24.7%, p<0.001) and Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (ABPA) (6.4 vs 2.4%, p<0.001) in the Asp positive group (Figure 1A). The Asp positive group had higher blood eosinophils (150.0 vs 124.0 cells/uL, p=0.026, Figure 1B), had nominally lower lung function (73.5 vs 75.3% ppFEV1, p=0.089), and were more likely to have at least one or more positive bacterial cultures (62.9 vs 51.9%, p<0.001, Figure 1C). There was no significant difference in sex, age, exacerbations, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or NTM positive cultures, sputum volume, or mBSI. Conclusion: Individuals with NCFB and history of one or more positive Asp cultures were more likely to be non-Hispanic white, have a diagnosis of Asthma and/or ABPA, higher blood eosinophils, and more positive airway bacterial cultures. Further work is needed to better understand how Asp contributes to bronchiectasis progression. More expansive analysis and multivariant modeling is underway to better understand the impact of Asp in people with NCFB.

Abstract The American Thoracic Society Core Curriculum updates clinicians annually in adult and pediatric pulmonary disease, medical critical care, and sleep medicine in a 3- to 4-year recurring cycle of topics. The topics of the 2020 Pulmonary Core Curriculum include pulmonary vascular disease (submassive pulmonary embolism, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary hypertension) and pulmonary infections (community-acquired pneumonia, pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteria, opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts, and coronavirus disease [COVID-19]).