This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Clinical features of bronchiectasis

Authoring team

Common clinical features of bronchiectasis include:

  • cough (productive or sometimes non productive)
  • daily production of sputum - may be described as mucoid, mucopurulent, thick, tenacious or viscous (viscid) (1)
  • haemoptysis - tends to be recurrent (2)
  • dyspnoea
  • constitutional symptoms - fatigue and weight loss (3).

Symptoms like chronic cough and sputum production may be mild specially at the start of the disease and may be misdiagnosed to diseases such as asthma, COPD, rhinosinus diseases, tracheobronchial infection or gastroesophageal reflux which are more common in an average UK general practice (1).

These are dependent on disease severity, and can be broadly divided into mild, moderate and severe.

Reference:

  1. Barker AF. Bronchiectasis. N Engl J Med. 2002 May 2;346(18):1383-93. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra012519.
  2. ten Hacken NH, van der Molen T. Bronchiectasis. BMJ. 2010 Jul 14;341:c2766. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c2766. PMID: 20630967.
  3. O'Donnell AE. Bronchiectasis. Chest. 2008;134(4):815-23.

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.