1 | When and how (molecule, dose, regimen, route (intravenous, oral or inhaled/nebulised) and duration) should Pseudomonas aeruginosa be eradicated in patients with bronchiectasis, and do patients' outcomes improve after that? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.35/5 |
2 | What are the indications and what is the optimal antibiotic therapy (dosage, how many antibiotics, type, oral versus intravenous versus inhaled/nebulised and length of therapy) for an exacerbation of bronchiectasis? | Exacerbation | 4.30/5 |
3 | What are the prevalence and characteristics of microbiological colonisation, and chronic and acute infections (exacerbations and pneumonia) in patients with bronchiectasis across Europe (including bacteria, viruses, fungi, nontuberculous mycobacteria and resistant microorganisms)? | Epidemiology | 4.29/5 |
4 | What are the risk factors and causes of fast progression and poor outcomes (e.g. hospitalisation, lung transplantation and mortality) in patients with bronchiectasis? | Outcomes, prognosis and healthcare utilisation | 4.28/5 |
5 | What is the impact of long-term antibiotic therapy on microbial resistances? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.21/5 |
6 | When should a long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy (either oral or inhaled/nebulised) be started in patients with bronchiectasis (according to the presence or absence of P. aeruginosa or other pathogens) and what would be end-points for efficacy? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.20/5 |
7 | What are the key factors leading to P. aeruginosa colonisation? | Microbiology and microbial diagnostics | 4.16/5 |
8 | What are the indications of oral versus inhaled/nebulised long-term suppressive antibiotic treatment? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.12/5 |
9 | What are the best molecule, dose, regimen and duration for long-term oral antibiotic therapy in patients with bronchiectasis (according to the presence or absence of P. aeruginosa or other pathogens)? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.11/5 |
10 | What are the causes of an exacerbation of bronchiectasis? | Exacerbation | 4.09/5 |
11 | When and how (molecule, dose, regimen, route (intravenous, oral or inhaled/nebulised) and duration) should pathogens other than P. aeruginosa be eradicated in patients with bronchiectasis, and do patients' outcomes improve after that? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.08/5 |
12 | What are the best molecule, dose, regimen and duration for long-term inhaled/nebulised antibiotic therapy in patients with bronchiectasis (according to the presence or absence of P. aeruginosa or other pathogens)? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 4.08/5 |
13 | What are the baseline investigations to evaluate aetiologies in patients with bronchiectasis? | Aetiology, radiology and pulmonary function tests | 4.08/5 |
14 | Do different aetiologies of bronchiectasis predetermine microbiological characteristics, and affect severity, patients' quality of life and disease progression in patients with bronchiectasis? | Aetiology, radiology and pulmonary function tests | 4.00/5 |
15 | How should the severity of an exacerbation of bronchiectasis be assessed and what is its impact on long-term outcomes? | Exacerbation | 3.98/5 |
16 | When should airway drainage techniques be started in patients with bronchiectasis, and which one is the most effective and pragmatic? | Physiotherapy and pulmonary rehabilitation | 3.97/5 |
17 | Which is the most useful severity score in clinical practice in patients with bronchiectasis? | Outcomes, prognosis and healthcare utilisation | 3.96/5 |
18 | Does an early referral to a specialist clinic change outcomes in patients with bronchiectasis? | Outcomes, prognosis and healthcare utilisation | 3.96/5 |
19 | What is the average lung function decline in patients with bronchiectasis across Europe and what are the risk or protective factors for that? | Aetiology, radiology and pulmonary function tests | 3.93/5 |
20 | Which factors, including aetiology of bronchiectasis, patients' characteristics or bacteria isolated in sputum, affect macrolide efficacy in patients with bronchiectasis? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 3.92/5 |
21 | What are the characteristics of patients' microbiomes, both during the stable state and exacerbation, and what is its impact on severity of the disease and follow-up? | Microbiology and microbial diagnostics | 3.90/5 |
22 | What is the role of viruses, atypicals, fungi and anaerobes (both singly and in co-infection) in patients with bronchiectasis, during both the stable state and exacerbation, and what is their impact of patients' severity and outcomes? | Microbiology and microbial diagnostics | 3.89/5 |
23 | What is the prevalence of different aetiologies of bronchiectasis across Europe? | Epidemiology | 3.87/5 |
24 | Are influenza and/or pneumococcal vaccines and other immunotherapies effective in preventing exacerbations in patients with bronchiectasis? | Other | 3.84/5 |
25 | What are the adverse events of a both oral and inhaled/nebulised suppressive antibiotic therapy in patients with bronchiectasis? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 3.83/5 |
26 | What are the prevalence and type of long-term suppressive oral (macrolide and nonmacrolide) and nebulised/inhaled antibiotic therapy in patients with bronchiectasis across Europe? | Epidemiology | 3.83/5 |
27 | When should pulmonary rehabilitation be started in patients with bronchiectasis and what is its impact on patients' outcomes? | Physiotherapy and pulmonary rehabilitation | 3.82/5 |
28 | What are incidence, prevalence, patients' demographic characteristics and comorbidities of bronchiectasis across Europe? | Epidemiology | 3.81/5 |
29 | Is airway clearance useful during an acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis? | Exacerbation | 3.80/5 |
30 | Should we establish new breakpoints for predicting bacteria susceptibility when inhaled/nebulised antibiotics are used? | Microbiology and microbial diagnostics | 3.78/5 |
31 | What are the indications/contraindications for lung transplantation in bronchiectasis and what are patients' outcomes after lung transplantation? | Other | 3.73/5 |
32 | Which are the best systemic (e.g. blood) or local (e.g. sputum) inflammatory markers for the diagnosis, management and follow-up of patients with bronchiectasis? | Pathogenesis and mechanisms of the disease | 3.73/5 |
33 | What is the distribution of inhaled/nebulised antibiotics with different formulations and devices in lungs with bronchiectasis? | Acute and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy | 3.73/5 |
34 | Do specific patient education packages, self-management plans and patients support groups improve outcomes in patients with bronchiectasis? | Other | 3.72/5 |
35 | Where are patients with bronchiectasis managed across Europe, including specialist (bronchiectasis) clinics, CF centres/clinics, respiratory clinics or general practitioners? | Epidemiology | 3.67/5 |
36 | Are other functional tests (such as carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, 6-min walk test, lung clearance index, endurance shuttle walk, incremental exercise tests or accelerometers) markers for severity of the disease, outcomes and end-points for the clinic? | Aetiology, radiology and pulmonary function tests | 3.64/5 |
37 | What is the best approach/score to evaluate radiological severity in patients with bronchiectasis? | Aetiology, radiology and pulmonary function tests | 3.63/5 |
38 | Might cross-infection occur in patients with bronchiectasis and is patients segregation required? | Microbiology and microbial diagnostics | 3.62/5 |
39 | What are the healthcare costs of bronchiectasis management across Europe? | Epidemiology | 3.60/5 |
40 | What is the role of inhaled hyperosmolar therapy (e.g. hyaluronate; mannitol; or NaCl 3%, 6% or 7%)? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 3.53/5 |
41 | What are the radiological changes in bronchiectasis over time? | Aetiology, radiology and pulmonary function tests | 3.52/5 |
42 | What is the impact of haemoptysis on the prognosis of patients with bronchiectasis and how should it be managed? | Other | 3.51/5 |
43 | What are the genetic and epigenetic findings in patients with bronchiectasis compared to healthy controls, and what is their role in acquisition of specific pathogens and patients' outcomes? | Pathogenesis and mech
anisms of the disease | 3.50/5 |
44 | What are the characteristics and outcomes of patients with bronchiectasis undergoing surgery, including segmentectomy, lobectomy or pneumonectomy? | Other | 3.49/5 |
45 | What is the role of systemic steroids during an exacerbation of bronchiectasis? | Exacerbation | 3.47/5 |
46 | Is there an increased rate of innate immune defects (e.g. mannose-binding lectin deficiency, common variable immunodeficiency, IgM or IgA deficiency, or complement deficiency) in specific patients with bronchiectasis? | Pathogenesis and mechanisms of the disease | 3.46/5 |
47 | What is the role of long-term inhaled corticosteroids in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 3.38/5 |
48 | What are the frequency of CF heterozygosity, and the role of CFTR and ENaC dysfunction in patients with bronchiectasis? | Pathogenesis and mechanisms of the disease | 3.36/5 |
49 | What is the role of oral mucolytics in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 3.35/5 |
50 | What is the role of antiproteinases/elastase inhibitors in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 3.19/5 |
51 | What is the role of systemic anti-inflammatory therapies (e.g. steroids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) during the stable state in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 3.15/5 |
52 | What is the role of protease–antiprotease imbalance, matrix metalloproteinase and neuron-specific enolase in patients with bronchiectasis? | Pathogenesis and mechanisms of the disease | 3.14/5 |
53 | What is the role of anticholinergic therapy in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 3.12/5 |
54 | What is the role of phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitors in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 2.97/5 |
55 | Does daily proton-pump inhibitor use impact clinical outcomes in patients with bronchiectasis? | Nonantibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies | 2.96/5 |