rss
Thorax 2009;64:246-251 doi:10.1136/thx.2008.100958
  • Paediatric lung disease

Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in childhood: longitudinal growth and lung function

  1. C M Bastardo1,
  2. S Sonnappa1,2,
  3. S Stanojevic1,
  4. A Navarro3,
  5. P Mondejar Lopez1,
  6. A Jaffe1,2,
  7. A Bush3,4
  1. 1
    Portex Anaesthesia, Intensive Therapy and Respiratory Unit, UCL, Institute of Child Health, London, UK
  2. 2
    Department of Respiratory Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, London, UK
  3. 3
    Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
  4. 4
    Imperial College London, UK
  1. Dr S Sonnappa, Portex Anaesthesia, Intensive Therapy and Respiratory Medicine Unit, UCL, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK; s.sonnappa{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk
  • Received 26 April 2008
  • Accepted 7 November 2008
  • Published Online First 3 December 2008

Abstract

Background: Non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) bronchiectasis often starts in childhood with a significant impact on adult morbidity. Little is known about disease progression through childhood and the effect on growth and spirometry. This study reviews longitudinal lung function and growth in children with non-CF bronchiectasis.

Methods: The case notes of patients with non-CF bronchiectasis were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were included if at least three calendar years of lung function data were available. Anthropometric measurements and annual spirometry were analysed over both two and four consecutive years. Changes over time were assessed using Generalised Estimating Equations.

Results: Fifty-nine patients (31 boys) were identified. At baseline the median age was 8.2 years (range 4.8–15.8), the mean (SD) for height, weight and body mass index (BMI) for age z-scores were −0.68 (1.31), −0.19 (1.34) and 0.19 (1.38), respectively. At baseline, the mean (SD) z-score for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) was −2.61 (1.82). Over 2 years (n = 59), mean FEV1 and forced vital capacity (FVC) improved by 0.17 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.34, p = 0.039) and 0.21 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.39, p = 0.016) z-scores per annum, respectively. Over 4 years there was improvement in height-for-age z-scores (slope 0.05, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.095, p = 0.01) but no improvement in other anthropometric variables. There was no change in spirometry (FEV1 slope 0.00, 95% CI −0.09 to 0.09, p = 0.999 and FVC slope 0.09, 95% CI −0.09 to 0.1, p = 0.859).

Conclusions: Children with non-CF bronchiectasis show adequate growth over time. Lung function stabilises but does not normalise with treatment, underscoring the need for early detection and institution of appropriate therapy.

Footnotes

  • Funding: None.

  • Competing interests: None.

  • Ethics approval: Approval was obtained from the local ethics committees of the two hospitals to carry out this retrospective review.

This Article

  1. Abstract
  2. Full text
  3. PDF
  4. All versions of this article:
    1. thx.2008.100958v1
    2. 64/3/246 most recent

Register for free content

The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.