Correlation between Air-trapping and Severity of Dyspnea in Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis

<bold>BACKGROUND:</bold> Bronchiectasis is an increasing problem worldwide. Patients usually suffer from chronic daily cough and phlegm and breathlessness. FEV1 has been used in many airway diseases such as asthma, COPD, in diagnosis and evaluation of dyspnea severity. However, its correlation with dyspnea in bronchiectasis is controversial. <bold>OBJECTIVES:</bold> This study aimed to assess the correlation between lung volume parameters and severity of dyspnea in adult bronchiectasis patients at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital <bold>METHODS:</bold> Bronchiectasis patients aged more than 18 years old, and diagnosed with thoracic CT scan were enrolled. Patients who had acute URI or worsening of symptoms within 4 weeks were excluded. Dyspnea was assessed by using mMRC scale, CAT score, VAS, and modified Borg scale. Patients underwent body plethysmography. The correlation between all lung volume parameters and dyspnea scores was analyzed using Pearson correlation. <bold>RESULT:</bold> 108 bronchiectasis patients with lung volume study assessment were recruited. The mean age was 66.9±12.5 years with female predominance (57.4%). Among these patients, 63 had identifiable causes, with post-infectious bronchiectasis, NTM, TB, and rheumatoid arthritis, etc. RV/TLC has the most association with dyspnea severity, significant correlations with VAS (0.698), modified Borg score (0.697), mMRC (0.669), and CAT score (0.618) (all P < 0.001). <bold>CONCLUSION:</bold> RV/TLC has strong correlation with dyspnea symptom in adult bronchiectasis patient. This reflects the importance of air-trapping in the pathophysiology of dyspnea and may lead to better specific treatment and monitoring in bronchiectasis.