Clinical characteristics of bronchiectasis patients with previous pulmonary tuberculosis: KMBARC registry data = Clinical characteristics of bronchiectasis patients with previous pulmonary tuberculosis: KMBARC registry data

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: Although respiratory infections, including tuberculosis, are the major cause of bronchiectasis in Asia, there is limited information on the clinical features of bronchiectasis patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) history. Methods: We evaluated 436 bronchiectasis patients enrolled in the Korean Multicenter Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (KMBARC) registry between August 2018 and July 2019. We compared respiratory symptoms, comorbidities, lung function, radiologic features, quality of life, exacerbations, and disease severity in bronchiectasis patients with TB history versus those without TB history. Results: Of the patients, 139 (31.9%) had TB history (51.8% [72/139] of whom was diagnosed with post-TB bronchiectasis). Bronchiectasis patients with TB history had lower body mass index (BMI) (22.4 vs. 23.2 kg/m2, P=0.002) and a higher rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (48.2% vs. 33.7%, P=0.004) than those without TB history. There were no significant intergroup differences in sputum color and volume, quality of life measured by the bronchiectasis health questionnaire, and other comorbidities. The involvement of right upper lobe (57.9% vs. 35.6%, P<0.001) and left upper lobe upper division (48.8% vs. 32.7%, P=0.002) on chest CT were more observed in patients with TB history than those without TB history. Regarding respiratory medications, bronchiectasis patients with TB history used LAMA/LABA more frequently (35.5% vs. 21.1%, P=0.001) and ICS/LABA less frequently (8.7% vs. 20.4%, P=0.002) than those without TB history. Bronchiectasis severity index (6 vs. 5, P=0.038) was significantly higher in patients with TB history than in those without TB history; however, there were no significant differences in exacerbations between two groups. Conclusion: Bronchiectasis patients with TB history had lower BMI, higher COPD rate, and received LAMA/ LABA more frequently than those without TB history. Despite higher bronchiectasis severity index in patients with TB history, there was no significant intergroup difference in the quality of life and exacerbation rates.