Prevalence of Bronchiectasis in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis in a Tertiary Care Center

Abstract

Whereas chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with asthma, and vice versa, the association between CRS and other lower respiratory conditions is not well-established. Bronchiectasis is characterized by permanent damage of the airways, and as many as 45% of bronchiectasis patients have CRS, but the prevalence of bronchiectasis among CRS patients is not known. To determine the prevalence of bronchiectasis among CRS patients and to characterize demographic and clinical features of patients with bronchiectasis and CRS. Electronic medical records of patients with rhinosinusitis were searched by computer algorithm supplemented with manual chart review to identify patients with CRS, asthma, and/or bronchiectasis. Demographic and clinical features and antibiotic courses for sinopulmonary infections 2 years before and after sinus surgery were obtained by manual chart review. The prevalence of bronchiectasis as determined by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code was significantly higher in CRS patients than in asthmatic patients (2.3% vs 1.7%; P < .003). Similarly, based on a text word search of "bronchiectasis" in the chest computed tomography (CT) scan reports, patients with CRS who had chest CT scans had a higher prevalence of bronchiectasis than did asthmatic patients with chest CT scans (24.3% vs 19.5%; P= .005). Patients with CRS and concurrent bronchiectasis did not have a reduction in the frequency of sinopulmonary infections after sinus surgery compared with patients with CRS without bronchiectasis (P<.05). Bronchiectasis is an important comorbidity in patients with CRS and may identify a severe phenotype of chronic sinonasal disease.