[Bronchial reversibility in the patients with bronchiectasis]. / Bronsektazide hava yolu reversibilitesi.

Pulmonary infections during childhood is an important factor in bronchiectasis ethiology. This disease sometimes may be confused with asthma in diagnosis. Because of bronchial obstruction, the bronchiectasis patients can be misdiagnosed as asthmatic. In this study we aimed to show the obstructive pattern and reversibility percentage in bronchiectasis. The 107 bronchiectasis patients that diagnosed with high resolution computed tomography scanning were included to the study. As a control group 40 volunteers that have no respiratory symptom were chosen randomly. There were 64 (59.81%) men and 43 (40.19%) women patients with a mean age of 48.89 +/- 14.33 years. In control group 40 healthy individuals with a mean age of 43.60 +/- 11.41 were present. The spirometry was done to measure FEV(1), FVC, FEF(25-75%) and reversibility of all 107 individuals and control group. Also diffusion capacity and lung volumes of patients and control group were measured. In the study group 78 (72.90%) patients had obstructive, 26 (24.30%) patients had mixed and 3 (2.80%) patients had restrictive pulmonary function abnormality. Reversibility percentage was recorded as positive for 39 patients in FEV(1) (36.45%) and as positive (> 20%) for 63 patients in FEF(25-75%) (58.9%). In this group mean reversibility percentage in FEV(1) was 19.51 +/- 6.59 and in FEF(25-75%) was 38.62 +/- 26.49. In control group reversibility ratio was 0% for FEV(1). We determined reversibility ratio as 36.45% for FEV(1) and as 58.9% for FEF(25-75%) in our study group, so bronchial reversibility is shown frequently in patients with bronchiectasis. Unfortunately bronchiectasis is often misdiagnosed and some patients are treated for presumed asthma for years. Therefore differential diagnosis of bronchiectasis and asthma should not only be evaluated by reversibility but also by radiologically.