clinical features of bronchiectasis
Last edited 04/2023 and last reviewed 05/2023
Common clinical features of bronchiectasis include:
- cough (productive or sometimes non productive)
- daily production of sputum - may be described as mucoid, mucopurulent, thick, tenacious or viscous (viscid) (1)
- haemoptysis - tends to be recurrent (2)
- dyspnoea
- constitutional symptoms - fatigue and weight loss (3).
Symptoms like chronic cough and sputum production may be mild specially at the start of the disease and may be misdiagnosed to diseases such as asthma, COPD, rhinosinus diseases, tracheobronchial infection or gastroesophageal reflux which are more common in an average UK general practice (1).
These are dependent on disease severity, and can be broadly divided into mild, moderate and severe.
Reference:
moderate cases of bronchiectasis
severe cases of bronchiectasis