Bronchiectasis, Results of Surgical Intervention in 36 Patients

Abstract

Aim: To analyze the results of surgical interventions due to bronchiectasias at the Thoracic Surgery Department of the Dr. R. A. Calderón Guardia Hospital.
Methods: In order to review the results of 44 surgical interventions due to bronchiectasias at the Thoracic Surgery Department of Calderón Guardia Hospital, the clinical files of 36 patients were examined.
Results: A significant prevalence of the disease in female patients was observed, in proportion of 11 to 1. In most cases, causal determination was not established due to lack of documentation in the clinical history annotations. In 10 cases there was a history of tuberculosis. One case corresponded to a Kartagener syndrome as causal elements of the disease. All patients exhibited a history of coughing and long evolution of mucopurulent expectoration. Twenty nive patients were catalogued as asthmatic even though ten of them lacked a family history of such disease. Thoracic X-Ray results were abnormal in all cases, presenting fibrosis, infiltrates or nodules, but were insufficient to provide diagnosis. CT scan results, in comparison, were effective in demonstrating the presence of bronchiectasias in all cases. Surgical intervention was decided upon when the affected area was localized in a specific part of the lung or when infectious processes became frequent and too difficult to control with medical treatment.
Conclusion: Results of surgery demonstrated that there was no effective indicator for success rates; some patients with particularly localized lesions continued to suffer from infection and expectoration, while others with diffuse and bilateral pathology demonstrated substantial improvements.