Chest
Clinical InvestigationsInfectionThe Effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection on Clinical Parameters in Steady-State Bronchiectasis
Section snippets
Study Design and Patient Recruitment
Consecutive patients with bronchiectasis, confirmed with high-resolution computed tomography, were recruited with informed consent into a baseline period (three consecutive weekly visits) to ensure that they were in steady-state bronchiectasis. The measurements of clinical and laboratory parameters were performed by a clinician and a technician who were unaware of the study protocol. A “steady-state” bronchiectasis was defined where there was an alteration of < 10% of a 24-h sputum volume, FEVl
Patient Demography and Clinical Details
Between September 1996 and July 1997, 100 consecutive patients with bronchiectasis with apparently stable symptoms and sputum production (mean age ± SD, 55.1 ± 16.7 years; 62 women) were recruited. Of the patients recruited, 33 were current smokers, 6 were ex-smokers, and 61 were nonsmokers. The other patient characteristics, including etiology of bronchiectasis, current medications, duration from onset of regular sputum production, spirometry, 24-h sputum volume grading, and sputum purulence
Discussion
The relative frequencies of bacteria isolated in this study among Chinese with bronchiectasis were different from those reported in sputum studies from the West.1, 2, 3, 4, 5,12,13 In studies performed on white patients in the 1970s and 1980s, H influenzae, S pneumoniae, and S aureus were the predominant bacteria isolated. The relative frequencies of these organisms were reported to be 83%, 35%, and 29%, respectively.14 Although there was a trend toward more P aeruginosa (23%) and less H
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Ian Lauder for his expert statistical advice and Mr. Raymond Leung for technical support. We are grateful to the patients who participated in this study.
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