TY - JOUR T1 - The overlap between bronchiectasis and chronic airway diseases: state of the art and future directions JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.00328-2018 VL - 52 IS - 3 SP - 1800328 AU - Eva Polverino AU - Katerina Dimakou AU - John Hurst AU - Miguel-Angel Martinez-Garcia AU - Marc Miravitlles AU - Pierluigi Paggiaro AU - Michal Shteinberg AU - Stefano Aliberti AU - James D. Chalmers Y1 - 2018/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/52/3/1800328.abstract N2 - Bronchiectasis is a clinical and radiological diagnosis associated with cough, sputum production and recurrent respiratory infections. The clinical presentation inevitably overlaps with other respiratory disorders such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, 4–72% of patients with severe COPD are found to have radiological bronchiectasis on computed tomography, with similar frequencies (20–30%) now being reported in cohorts with severe or uncontrolled asthma. Co-diagnosis of bronchiectasis with another airway disease is associated with increased lung inflammation, frequent exacerbations, worse lung function and higher mortality. In addition, many patients with all three disorders have chronic rhinosinusitis and upper airway disease, resulting in a complex “mixed airway” phenotype.The management of asthma, bronchiectasis, COPD and upper airway diseases has traditionally been outlined in separate guidelines for each individual disorder. Recognition that the majority of patients have one or more overlapping pathologies requires that we re-evaluate how we treat airway disease. The concept of treatable traits promotes a holistic, pathophysiology-based approach to treatment rather than a syndromic approach and may be more appropriate for patients with overlapping features.Here, we review the current clinical definition, diagnosis, management and future directions for the overlap between bronchiectasis and other airway diseases.Bronchiectasis is a heterogeneous disease and frequently overlaps with other chronic airway diseases. Management of these overlap conditions is particularly challenging in terms of diagnosis and therapy, and requires future research. http://ow.ly/snLK30lsrkr ER -