About Bronchiectasis
What is bronchiectasis?
How do you get bronchiectasis?
What happens in the lungs with bronchiectasis?
What are the symptoms of bronchiectasis?
What is bronchiectasis?
Bronchiectasis (pronounced bron-kee-ek'-tas-is) is a disorder of the airways within the lungs. Inflammation and infections cause damage to the airways. This causes a change in the lining of the airways. The airways become distorted and enlarged. Enlargement can be uniform or irregular. Mucus can collect in the airways. The mucus is difficult to clear because of the damage to the normal ways the airways clear the mucus. This can lead to episodes of infection and then, worsening bronchiectasis. Early diagnosis and treatment of bronchiectasis and the infections that occur are very important.
How do you get bronchiectasis?
You may be born with bronchiectasis. You may also acquire it as an adult or child through one or more of the following ways:
- Inhalation of oral or stomach material into your lungs. Impaired ability to swallow may also cause saliva or food to enter the lungs. Severe heartburn (gastroesophageal reflux disease) occurs when the valve or sphincter connecting your esophagus and stomach is too relaxed. This may allow a backward flow of stomach contents to enter your lungs and irritate the airways
- Having another chronic lung condition, such as cystic fibrosis, allergic aspergillosis, tuberculosis, other mycobacterial diseases such as MAI, whooping cough (pertussis), an immune deficiency disease or severe or repeated episodes pneumonia
- Disorders that affect the function of the cilia (small hairs that line the airways)
- Obstruction in your airways because of a growth or tumor
- Kartagener's Syndrome. This is a rare inherited disease. It combines bronchiectasis, loss of ability to clear mucus and chronic sinusitis.
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What happens in the lungs with bronchiectasis?
First, inflammation occurs in the walls of the airways from any mechanism (listed above). This inflammation causes injury to the airways. The resulting loss of the normal defenses in the lungs leads to the loss of the ability to clear mucus. This makes the airways susceptible to infections. Repeated lung infections can worsen the damage to the airway walls.
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What are the symptoms of bronchiectasis?
Symptoms of bronchiectasis include a cough and often raising mucus from the lungs. With infections the mucus may be discolored, foul smelling and may contain blood. Fatigue, weight loss, shortness of breath and abnormal chest sounds can also occur.
Some people with bronchiectasis also have chronic sinusitis. This requires further evaluation since bronchiectasis and sinusitis may be due to other diseases.
If left untreated, symptoms of bronchiectasis may progress. Further symptoms may include increasing shortness of breath, worsening quality of life and even heart failure.
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This information has been approved by Gwen Huitt, MD (April 2006).
