[Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasias]

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchiectasias are two of the most frequent and underdiagnosed diseases of the airways. The association between these two entities can be established from different points of view. On the one hand, because of their high prevalence, the co-occurrence of COPD and bronchiectasias in the same patient is not unusual. On the other hand, recent studies have observed an association between COPD and bronchiectasias, given that more than 50% of patients with moderate-severe COPD show bronchiectasias unexplained by other causes that could provoke an excess of bronchial inflammation, as well as a higher number of exacerbations, possibly mediated by an increase in bronchial colonization-infection by potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Lastly, some physiopathologic hypotheses that remain to be demonstrated suggest a causal relation between the two diseases in which COPD, especially severe forms, would constitute a risk factor for the formation of bronchiectasias.