Correlation between chest CT features and clinical characteristics of patients with bronchiectasis

Introduction: The diagnosis of bronchiectasis is increasing with the application of high resolution chest CT (HRCT). There are few reports on the correlation between HRCT images and clinical features. Objectives: Analyze the correlation between CT imaging features and clinical characteristics of patients with bronchiectasis. Methods: Retrospective study including 81 patients with bronchiectasis diagnosed by HRCT from January 1998 to December 2019 in pulmonary department I, Abderrahmen Mami Hospital, Tunisia. The correlations between the HRCT imaging features and etiology, clinical manifestations, blood gas analysis, sputum culture and outcomes were assessed. Results: Mean age of our population was 54 ± 18 years with male predominance. HRCT imaging of bronchiectasis revealed three types: columnar 53.1%, cystic 60.5% and varicose 3.7%. The most common etiology was idiopathic (37%). No significant correlation was noted between imaging and the etiology of bronchiectasis. Patients with clinical history of asthma (p=0.004) presented more varicose bronchiectasis. Patients with varicose bronchiectasis suffer more of wheezing (p=0.012). Patients with diffuse bronchiectasis were more hypoxemic (p=0.012). More desaturation (p<10-³) was noted in patients with cystic bronchiectasis. There is a significant positive correlation between the long-term clinical course to chronic respiratory failure (p=0.007), chronic pulmonary heart (p=0.042) and patients with cystic bronchiectasis. Conclusion: Blood gas analysis and prognosis of patients with cystic bronchiectasis are worse than those of other types of bronchiectasis, requiring then to strengthen therapeutic management.