Bronchiostasis

[Snoekie]

Diagnoses, stages and pronosis of bronchiostasis?

[Sunny602]

I have mild bronchiectasis due to atypical CF....a chest xray can show bronchiectasis except when it is in its early stages or the involvement is small. A CT scan is the best way to go as far as diagnostics as well as the degree of involvement. Minimal bronchiectasis might have some symptoms like excess mucous and affect just a small part of a lobe. The more severe, the more the lung is affected, chronic infection, inflammation leads to progression (the mucous pools because of the dilated bronchi, this makes for a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, especially pseudomonas), at least in cystic fibrosis it does.
If the bronchiectasis is very severe, sometimes removal of the affected lobe(s) is performed to curb the infections and to slow down the destruction of lung. Lung transplants are considered if the lung function is severely affected and there is just too much damage for any removal of lobes to be of benefit.
To keep my lungs as healthy as I can, I do chest physiotherapy twice a day to loosen up the mucous. The other thing that I do is to nebulize a mucolytic (a med designed to break up the mucous) that helps thin the mucous so that I can bring it up better.

Remember, I am not a doctor, the best person to ask is your doctor as he or she knows your case the best and can determine the best therapy for you.
Sunny