Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Mar;10(3):298-306.
doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00277-0. Epub 2021 Sep 24.

Criteria and definitions for the radiological and clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis in adults for use in clinical trials: international consensus recommendations

Stefano Aliberti  1 , Pieter C Goeminne  2 , Anne E O'Donnell  3 , Timothy R Aksamit  4 , Hamdan Al-Jahdali  5 , Alan F Barker  6 , Francesco Blasi  7 , Wim G Boersma  8 , Megan L Crichton  9 , Anthony De Soyza  10 , Katerina E Dimakou  11 , Stuart J Elborn  12 , Charles Feldman  13 , Harm Tiddens  14 , Charles S Haworth  15 , Adam T Hill  16 , Michael R Loebinger  17 , Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia  18 , Jennifer J Meerburg  14 , Rosario Menendez  18 , Lucy C Morgan  19 , Marlene S Murris  20 , Eva Polverino  21 , Felix C Ringshausen  22 , Michal Shteinberg  23 , Nicola Sverzellati  24 , Gregory Tino  25 , Antoni Torres  26 , Thomas Vandendriessche  27 , Montserrat Vendrell  28 , Tobias Welte  22 , Robert Wilson  17 , Conroy A Wong  29 , James D Chalmers  9
Affiliations
Review

Criteria and definitions for the radiological and clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis in adults for use in clinical trials: international consensus recommendations

Stefano Aliberti et al. Lancet Respir Med. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Bronchiectasis refers to both a clinical disease and a radiological appearance that has multiple causes and can be associated with a range of conditions. Disease heterogeneity and the absence of standardised definitions have hampered clinical trials of treatments for bronchiectasis and are important challenges in clinical practice. In view of the need for new therapies for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis to reduce the disease burden, we established an international taskforce of experts to develop recommendations and definitions for clinically significant bronchiectasis in adults to facilitate the standardisation of terminology for clinical trials. Systematic reviews were used to inform discussions, and Delphi processes were used to achieve expert consensus. We prioritised criteria for the radiological diagnosis of bronchiectasis and suggest recommendations on the use and central reading of chest CT scans to confirm the presence of bronchiectasis for clinical trials. Furthermore, we developed a set of consensus statements concerning the definitions of clinical bronchiectasis and its specific signs and symptoms, as well as definitions for chronic bacterial infection and sustained culture conversion. The diagnosis of clinically significant bronchiectasis requires both clinical and radiological criteria, and these expert recommendations and proposals should help to optimise patient recruitment into clinical trials and allow reliable comparisons of treatment effects among different interventions for bronchiectasis. Our consensus proposals should also provide a framework for future research to further refine definitions and establish definitive guidance on the diagnosis of bronchiectasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests SA reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bayer Healthcare, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Insmed, Menarini, Zambon, and ZetaCube; and grants from Chiesi, Fisher & Paykel, and Insmed, outside of the submitted work. AFB reports personal fees from Wolters Kluwer and UpToDate, during the conduct of the study. FB reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Guidotti, Insmed, Menarini, Novartis, Pfizer, Vertex, and Zambon; and grants from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Menarini, and Pfizer, outside of the submitted work. JDC reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Insmed, Janssen, Novartis, and Zambon; and grants from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead Science, Insmed, and Novartis, outside of the submitted work. MLC reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, outside of the submitted work. ADS reports grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Forest Labs, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Insmed, Teva, and Zambon, outside of the submitted work. PCG reports personal fees from AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline; and grants and non-financial support from Chiesi, outside of the submitted work. CSH reports personal fees from Aradigm, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Insmed, International Biophysics, Janssen, Meiji, Mylan, Novartis, Teva, and Zambon; and grants from Insmed, International Biophysics, and Teva, outside of the submitted work. MSM reports non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Insmed, and Zambon; and personal fees from Zambon, outside of the submitted work. MRL reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Grifols, and Insmed, outside of the submitted work. AEO'D reports personal fees from Electromed, Insmed, and Zambon; and grants from AstraZeneca, Insmed, Janssen, and Zambon, outside of the submitted work. EP reports grants from Chiesi and Grifols; and personal fees from CSL Behring, Chiesi, Shionogi, Insmed, Shire, Teva, and Zambon, during the conduct of the study. FCR reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bayer Healthcare, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celtaxsys, Chiesi, Corbus, Grifols, InfectoPharm, Insmed, Novartis, PARI, Parion, Polyphor, Vertex, and Zambon; grants from Bayer Healthcare, Grifols, InfectoPharm, Insmed, Novartis, and PARI; and non-financial support from PARI, outside of the submitted work. MS reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Kamada, Novartis, Teva, Vertex, and Zambon; grants from GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis; and non-financial support from Actelion, GlaxoSmithKline, and Rafa, outside of the submitted work. HT reports personal fees from Insmed, Novartis, Thirona, and Vertex; and grants from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Insmed, and Novartis, outside of the submitted work. In addition, HT's institution, Erasmus MC, receives license fees for the chest CT image analysis PRAGMA-CF software developed by Thirona (Nijmegen, Netherlands) and by Resonance Health (Perth, Australia) and for the chest CT image analysis AA-method software co-developed by Erasmus MC and Thirona (Nijmegen, Netherlands). HT contributed to the development and validation of this software. GT reports grants from the US Bronchiectasis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria Research Registry (which is funded by the COPD Foundation); and personal fees from AstraZeneca and Cipla, outside of the submitted work. MV reports non-financial support from Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Zambon; and personal fees from Insmed, outside of the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Comment in

  • New developments in bronchiectasis.
    The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Lancet Respir Med. 2023 Sep;11(9):755. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(23)00304-1. Epub 2023 Aug 14. Lancet Respir Med. 2023. PMID: 37591297 No abstract available.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources