Background: 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.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of bronchiectasis among CRS patients and to characterize demographic and clinical features of patients with bronchiectasis and CRS.
Methods: 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.
Results: 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).
Conclusions: Bronchiectasis is an important comorbidity in patients with CRS and may identify a severe phenotype of chronic sinonasal disease.
Keywords: Antibiotics; Asthma; Bronchiectasis; CRSsNP; CRSwNP; Chronic rhinosinusitis; Nasal polyp; Prevalence.
Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.