Frequent bronchiectasis exacerbations linked to higher mortality

 

WASHINGTON – Bronchiectasis patients with three or more exacerbations per year had twice the mortality during 5-year follow-up as patients with no recent exacerbations, in a prospective registry of nearly 2,600 European bronchiectasis patients.

A multivariate analysis showed this statistically significant doubled death rate after adjustment for baseline demographic and clinical differences between patients with no exacerbations during the year before they entered the registry, James D. Chalmers, MD, said at an international conference of the American Thoracic Society.

Having had frequent exacerbations at a rate of three or more annually prior to enrollment was common, with 37% of the 2,596 bronchiectasis patients in the registry having this history, said Dr. Chalmers, a pulmonologist at the University of Dundee, Scotland.

This 37% prevalence contrasted with a 19% U.S. prevalence of bronchiectasis patients having two or more exacerbations per year among 2,114 patients enrolled in a 13-center U.S. registry that was reported during the same session by Timothy R. Aksamit, MD, a pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. During his talk, Dr. Aksamit suggested that the European cohort might include more patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other complications in addition to bronchiectasis. Dr. Aksamit contended that the U.S. registry tried to exclusively enroll patients with bronchiectasis and no other disorder, possibly explaining the prevalence difference between Europe and the United States.

The European registry included patients with bronchiectasis seen in 10 centers in seven European countries and Israel. They averaged 67 years of age. While more than a third had a history of at least three exacerbations a year, one-quarter had no exacerbations during the year before they entered the study.

The prospective study also showed that, among patients with three or more exacerbations annually, the risk for a subsequent exacerbation was five times higher than among patients with no recent exacerbations, Dr. Chalmers reported.

The U.S. registry reported by Dr. Aksamit had 2-year follow-up data for 1,049 of the enrolled patients, a subgroup that closely matched the entire population initially enrolled. The 2-year follow-up showed an overall average exacerbation rate of 0.75 episodes per year, but this was driven largely by the subgroup of patients who entered the registry with a history of two or more exacerbations per year, who then averaged about 2.6 exacerbations during follow-up. In contrast, patients who entered the registry with a history of fewer than two exacerbations per year averaged fewer than a third of an exacerbation per year during follow-up, Dr. Aksamit reported.

The European bronchiectasis registry was partially funded by Bayer. Dr. Chalmers has been a consultant to Bayer and to AstraZeneca, Basilea, Grifols, Napp, and Raptor and has received research funding from Aradigm, AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer. Dr. Aksamit had no disclosures.

mzoler@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

 

WASHINGTON – Bronchiectasis patients with three or more exacerbations per year had twice the mortality during 5-year follow-up as patients with no recent exacerbations, in a prospective registry of nearly 2,600 European bronchiectasis patients.

A multivariate analysis showed this statistically significant doubled death rate after adjustment for baseline demographic and clinical differences between patients with no exacerbations during the year before they entered the registry, James D. Chalmers, MD, said at an international conference of the American Thoracic Society.

Having had frequent exacerbations at a rate of three or more annually prior to enrollment was common, with 37% of the 2,596 bronchiectasis patients in the registry having this history, said Dr. Chalmers, a pulmonologist at the University of Dundee, Scotland.

This 37% prevalence contrasted with a 19% U.S. prevalence of bronchiectasis patients having two or more exacerbations per year among 2,114 patients enrolled in a 13-center U.S. registry that was reported during the same session by Timothy R. Aksamit, MD, a pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. During his talk, Dr. Aksamit suggested that the European cohort might include more patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other complications in addition to bronchiectasis. Dr. Aksamit contended that the U.S. registry tried to exclusively enroll patients with bronchiectasis and no other disorder, possibly explaining the prevalence difference between Europe and the United States.

The European registry included patients with bronchiectasis seen in 10 centers in seven European countries and Israel. They averaged 67 years of age. While more than a third had a history of at least three exacerbations a year, one-quarter had no exacerbations during the year before they entered the study.

The prospective study also showed that, among patients with three or more exacerbations annually, the risk for a subsequent exacerbation was five times higher than among patients with no recent exacerbations, Dr. Chalmers reported.

The U.S. registry reported by Dr. Aksamit had 2-year follow-up data for 1,049 of the enrolled patients, a subgroup that closely matched the entire population initially enrolled. The 2-year follow-up showed an overall average exacerbation rate of 0.75 episodes per year, but this was driven largely by the subgroup of patients who entered the registry with a history of two or more exacerbations per year, who then averaged about 2.6 exacerbations during follow-up. In contrast, patients who entered the registry with a history of fewer than two exacerbations per year averaged fewer than a third of an exacerbation per year during follow-up, Dr. Aksamit reported.

The European bronchiectasis registry was partially funded by Bayer. Dr. Chalmers has been a consultant to Bayer and to AstraZeneca, Basilea, Grifols, Napp, and Raptor and has received research funding from Aradigm, AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer. Dr. Aksamit had no disclosures.

mzoler@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

 

WASHINGTON – Bronchiectasis patients with three or more exacerbations per year had twice the mortality during 5-year follow-up as patients with no recent exacerbations, in a prospective registry of nearly 2,600 European bronchiectasis patients.

A multivariate analysis showed this statistically significant doubled death rate after adjustment for baseline demographic and clinical differences between patients with no exacerbations during the year before they entered the registry, James D. Chalmers, MD, said at an international conference of the American Thoracic Society.

Having had frequent exacerbations at a rate of three or more annually prior to enrollment was common, with 37% of the 2,596 bronchiectasis patients in the registry having this history, said Dr. Chalmers, a pulmonologist at the University of Dundee, Scotland.

This 37% prevalence contrasted with a 19% U.S. prevalence of bronchiectasis patients having two or more exacerbations per year among 2,114 patients enrolled in a 13-center U.S. registry that was reported during the same session by Timothy R. Aksamit, MD, a pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. During his talk, Dr. Aksamit suggested that the European cohort might include more patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other complications in addition to bronchiectasis. Dr. Aksamit contended that the U.S. registry tried to exclusively enroll patients with bronchiectasis and no other disorder, possibly explaining the prevalence difference between Europe and the United States.

The European registry included patients with bronchiectasis seen in 10 centers in seven European countries and Israel. They averaged 67 years of age. While more than a third had a history of at least three exacerbations a year, one-quarter had no exacerbations during the year before they entered the study.

The prospective study also showed that, among patients with three or more exacerbations annually, the risk for a subsequent exacerbation was five times higher than among patients with no recent exacerbations, Dr. Chalmers reported.

The U.S. registry reported by Dr. Aksamit had 2-year follow-up data for 1,049 of the enrolled patients, a subgroup that closely matched the entire population initially enrolled. The 2-year follow-up showed an overall average exacerbation rate of 0.75 episodes per year, but this was driven largely by the subgroup of patients who entered the registry with a history of two or more exacerbations per year, who then averaged about 2.6 exacerbations during follow-up. In contrast, patients who entered the registry with a history of fewer than two exacerbations per year averaged fewer than a third of an exacerbation per year during follow-up, Dr. Aksamit reported.

The European bronchiectasis registry was partially funded by Bayer. Dr. Chalmers has been a consultant to Bayer and to AstraZeneca, Basilea, Grifols, Napp, and Raptor and has received research funding from Aradigm, AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer. Dr. Aksamit had no disclosures.

mzoler@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @mitchelzoler