Prognostic Factors in Adult Patients with Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis.

BACKGROUND: Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is a heterogeneous disease. There are few studies about prognostic factors in these patients. Our study aims to assess mortality rates and related factors in a cohort of patients and test the ability of the BSI and FACED scores in predicting mortality in this cohort.

METHODS: This was a prospective cohort analysis of 70 patients with NCFB recruited from May 2008 to August 2010. At baseline, patients underwent clinical evaluation, pulmonary function tests, 6-min walk test, and quality of life assessment. Outcomes were defined as favorable (survivors) and unfavorable (survivors who underwent lung transplantation and death from all causes). Baseline records provided data for determination of BSI and FACED.

RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (38.57%) died and 1 (1.43%) underwent lung transplantation. Mean time for occurrence of unfavorable outcomes was 74.67 ± 4.00 months. Main cause of death was an acute infectious exacerbation of bronchiectasis (60.7). Cox regression identified age (p = 0.035; HR 1.04; CI 1.01-1.08), FEV1 % of predicted (p = 0.045; HR 0.97; CI 0.93-0.99), and MEP (p = 0.016; HR 0.96; CI 0.94-0.99) as independent predictors of unfavorable outcomes. FACED was better at predicting unfavorable outcomes in our cohort (log-rank test, FACED p = 0.001 and BSI p = 0.286). In ROC analysis, both scores were similar in predicting unfavorable outcomes (BSI 0.65; FACED 0.66).

CONCLUSIONS: Older age, lower FEV1 % of predicted, and lower MEP were independently linked to unfavorable outcomes. FACED and BSI were not accurate in predicting mortality in our cohort.