Extract
Bronchiectasis exacerbations are defined by an increase in daily respiratory symptoms such as cough, sputum production, malaise, fatigue and breathlessness [1–3]. Symptoms accumulate over several days and can take weeks to resolve, with many patients never fully returning to baseline after therapy [4]. Patients with frequent exacerbations experience poorer quality of life and a markedly increased mortality [5–7]. Patients tend to continue to have frequent exacerbations over time unless therapy is initiated to prevent them [5]. Bronchiectasis guidelines such as those recently issued from the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and British Thoracic Society therefore rightly prioritise exacerbation prevention as perhaps the key objective of therapy, alongside improvement of patients' symptoms and quality of life [8–10].
Abstract
Macrolides appear to be superior to inhaled corticosteroids for exacerbation prevention in bronchiectasis patientshttp://bit.ly/2Je3BY6
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: I.F. Laska has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J.D. Chalmers has received research grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Grifols, Bayer AG, Polyphor and Insmed; and received consultancy, congress travel or speaker fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer Healthcare, Aradigm Corporation, Grifols, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Napp and Insmed.
Support statement: This work was supported by the British Lung Foundation, GSK/BLF Chair of Respiratory Research. Funding information for this article has been deposited with theCrossref Funder Registry.
- ReceivedJune 20, 2019.
- AcceptedJune 20, 2019.
- Copyright ©ERS 2019