Rationale: There are no risk stratification tools for morbidity and mortality in bronchiectasis. Identifying patients at risk of exacerbations, hospital admissions, and mortality is vital for future research.Objectives: This study describes the derivation and validation of the Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI).Methods: Derivation of the BSI used data from a prospective cohort study (Edinburgh, UK, 2008 enrolling 608 patients. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to identify independent predictors of mortality and hospitalization over 4-year follow-up. The score was validated in independent cohorts from Dundee, UK (n = 218); Leuven, Belgium (n = 253); Monza, Italy (n = 105); and Newcastle, UK (n = 126).Measurements and Main Results: Independent predictors of future hospitalization were prior hospital admissions, Medical Research Council dyspnea score greater than or equal to 4, FEV 1 , 30% predicted, Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization, colonization with other pathogenic organisms, and three or more lobes involved on high-resolution computed tomography. Independent predictors of mortality were older age, low FEV 1 , lower body mass index, prior hospitalization, and three or more exacerbations in the year before the study. The derived BSI predicted mortality and hospitalization: area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) 0.80 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.86) for mortality and AUC 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.91) for hospitalization, respectively.There was a clear difference in exacerbation frequency and quality of life using the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire between patients classified as low, intermediate, and high risk by the score (P , 0.0001 for all comparisons). In the validation cohorts, the AUC for mortality ranged from 0.81 to 0.84 and for hospitalization from 0.80 to 0.88. Conclusions:The BSI is a useful clinical predictive tool that identifies patients at risk of future mortality, hospitalization, and exacerbations across healthcare systems.

Rationale: Testing for underlying etiology is a key part of bronchiectasis management, but it is unclear whether the same extent of testing is required across the spectrum of disease severity.Objectives: The aim of the present study was to identify the etiology of bronchiectasis across European cohorts and according to different levels of disease severity. Methods:We conducted an analysis of seven databases of adult outpatients with bronchiectasis prospectively enrolled at the bronchiectasis clinics of university teaching hospitals in Monza, Italy; Dundee and Newcastle, United Kingdom; Leuven, Belgium; Barcelona, Spain; Athens, Greece; and Galway, Ireland. All the patients at every site underwent the same comprehensive diagnostic workup as suggested by the British Thoracic Society.Measurements and Main Results: Among the 1,258 patients enrolled, an etiology of bronchiectasis was determined in 60%, including postinfective (20%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease related (15%), connective tissue disease related (10%), immunodeficiency related (5.8%), and asthma related (3.3%). An etiology leading to a change in patient's management was identified in 13% of the cases. No significant differences in the etiology of bronchiectasis were present across different levels of disease severity, with the exception of a higher prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-related bronchiectasis (P , 0.001) and a lower prevalence of idiopathic bronchiectasis (P = 0.029) in patients with severe disease.Conclusions: Physicians should not be guided by disease severity in suspecting specific etiologies in patients with bronchiectasis, although idiopathic bronchiectasis appears to be less common in patients with the most severe disease.

Bronchiectasis is a heterogeneous disease. This study aimed at identifying discrete groups of patients with different clinical and biological characteristics and long-term outcomes.This was a secondary analysis of five European databases of prospectively enrolled adult outpatients with bronchiectasis. Principal component and cluster analyses were performed using demographics, comorbidities, and clinical, radiological, functional and microbiological variables collected during the stable state. Exacerbations, hospitalisations and mortality during a 3-year follow-up were recorded. Clusters were externally validated in an independent cohort of patients with bronchiectasis, also investigating inflammatory markers in sputum.Among 1145 patients (median age 66 years; 40% male), four clusters were identified driven by the presence of chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosaor other pathogens and daily sputum: "Pseudomonas" (16%), "Other chronic infection" (24%), "Daily sputum" (33%) and "Dry bronchiectasis" (27%). Patients in the four clusters showed significant differences in terms of quality of life, exacerbations, hospitalisations and mortality during follow-up. In the validation cohort, free neutrophil elastase activity, myeloperoxidase activity and interleukin-1β levels in sputum were significantly different among the clusters.Identification of four clinical phenotypes in bronchiectasis could favour focused treatments in future interventional studies designed to alter the natural history of the disease.

Pneumonia is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. The elderly population has exponentially increased in the last decades and the current epidemiological trends indicate that it is expected to further increase. Therefore, recognizing the special needs of older people is of paramount importance. In this review we address the main differences between elderly and adult patients with pneumonia. We focus on several aspects, including the atypical clinical presentation of pneumonia in the elderly, the methods to assess severity of illness, the appropriate setting of care, and the management of comorbidities. We also discuss how to approach the common complications of severe pneumonia, including acute respiratory failure and severe sepsis. Moreover, we debate whether or not elderly patients are at higher risk of infection due to multi-drug resistant pathogens and which risk factors should be considered when choosing the antibiotic therapy. We highlight the differences in the definition of clinical stability and treatment failure between adults and elderly patients. Finally, we review the main outcomes, preventive and supportive measures to be considered in elderly patients with pneumonia.