%0 Journal Article %A Konstantinos Douros %A Efthymia Alexopoulou %A Aggeliki Nicopoulou %A Michael Anthracopoulos %A Panayiotis Yiallouros %A Andrew Fretzayas %A Polixeni Nicolaidou %A Kostas Priftis %T Bronchoscopic and high resolution CT findings in children with chronic wet cough %D 2011 %J European Respiratory Journal %P 1416 %V 38 %N Suppl 55 %X Background: Chronic wet cough strongly suggests endobronchial infection which, if left untreated, may progress to bronchiectasis. Our aim was to compare the effectiveness of chest high-resolution CT (HRCT) and flexible bronchoscopy (FB) in detecting airway abnormalities in children with chronic wet cough and to explore the association between radiological and bronchoscopic/bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) findings.Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 93 children (0.6-16.4 years) with wet cough for more than 6 weeks referred to a specialized center and deemed unlikely to have asthma. All patients were submitted to hematological investigations, chest x-ray(s), HRCT, and FB/BAL. HRCTs were scored with the Bhalla method and bronchoscopic findings of bronchitis were grouped into 5 grades of severity.Results: Positive HRCT were found in 70 (75.2%) patients, respectively (p=0.76). A positive correlation was found between Bhalla score and duration of cough (p=0.23, p=0.028). FB/BAL was superior to HRCT in detecting abnormalities (p<0.001). The Bhalla score correlated positively with type-III (OR: 5.44, 95%CI: 1.92-15.40, p= 0.001) and type IV (OR: 8.91, 95%CI: 2.53-15.42, p= 0.001) bronchoscopic lesions; it also correlated positively with the percentage of neutrophils in BAL (p=0.23, p=0.036).Conclusions: HRCT detected airway wall thickening and bronchiectasis and the severity of the findings correlated positively with the length of clinical symptoms and the intensity of neutrophilic inflammation in the airways. However, HRCT was less sensitive than FB/BAL in detecting airway abnormalities. The two modalities should be considered complementary in the evaluation of prolonged wet cough. %U