TY - JOUR T1 - Physiotherapy in bronchiectasis: we have more patients, we need more evidence JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1011 LP - 1012 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00104609 VL - 34 IS - 5 AU - M. Á. Martínez-García AU - J. B. Soriano Y1 - 2009/11/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/34/5/1011.abstract N2 - Beyond any reasonable doubt, one of the greatest achievements of medicine in the last century has been the successful reduction of morbidity and mortality due to infectious disease. In 1938, a landmark paper in the Edinburgh Medical Journal by Cookson and Mason 1 highlighted the high lethality of bronchiectasis even before the fourth decade of life 1, 2. Thanks to improved hygiene measures and antibiotic treatment, what used to be a fatal disease has now become a chronic disease. The major, scattered lung lesions due to cystic bronchiectasis and often associated with outbreaks of infectious diseases, have given way to smaller, cylindrical bronchiectasis as a consequence of dozens of diseases being able to generate lung damage 3. However, far from being an extinct disease, bronchiectasis has emerged with force. The ever increasing lifespan of humans, with more people at risk of developing chronic illnesses with potential to bronchiectasis, and the widespread use of imaging techniques (such as chest high-resolution computed tomography), have increased the burden, particularly in the elderly 4, 5. But the relevance of bronchiectasis goes beyond its mere presence, as bronchiectasis worsens the prognosis of … ER -