Bronchiectasis Research Paper

Bronchiectasis (broncos, airways; ectasia, dilatation) is a morphologic term used to describe abnormal, irreversibly dilated and thick-walled bronchi(1). Thus bronchiectasis is present when one or more bronchi are abnormally and permanently dilated. The condition was clearly described by Laënnec in 1819 after the post-mortem examination of the lungs of an infant who died following whooping cough , and a popular textbook of the late nineteenth century stated correctly that bronchiectasis was ‘not a separate disease but a result of various affections of the lungs and bronchi’(2) Bronchiectasis is primarily a disease of the bronchi and bronchioles involving a vicious circle of trans-mural infection and inflammation with mediator release(3). Illness is related to retained inflammatory secretions and microbes that cause obstruction and damage of the airway and recurrent infection. Although there are no studies of patients

However, there is scant research interest and hence the true prevalence is un-known. Idiopathic disease still seems to be the commonest cause of bronchiec-tasis, as in the West, but there is a much higher rate of post-TB bronchiectasis in some Asian countries. Preliminary data from the Indian bronchiectasis registry (EMBARC India; unpublished data) also shows that idiopathic disease is the most common cause, even though the incidence of post-TB bronchiectasis is much higher in India.(10) Causes of bronchiectasis include

 Post infective causes

• Severe pneumonia

• Whooping cough(11)

• Measles

• Tuberculosis(12)

• Fungal