Quantitative CT measures are sensitive to clinical bronchiectasis severity: preliminary data from the BRILLIANT study

Bronchiectasis (BE) is a heterogenous disease, characterised by dilated bronchi and other structural abnormalities. CT Imaging can be used to quantitate these abnormalities, in order to further understand and characterise the condition. The BRILLIANT study is a comprehensive disease profiling study enrolling patients with BE and healthy controls. Participants undergo expiratory and inspiratory CT at baseline. Quantitative image analysis generated measures of functional small airway disease (DPMfSAD) and emphysema (DPMEmph), bronchoarterial ratios, mucus and modified Reiff scores. BE subjects were stratified according to the Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI) and comparisons between control and severity groups were made using Kruskal-Wallis test and post-hoc Dunn test. 37 BE (12 mild, 20 moderate, 5 severe according to BSI) and 8 control subjects were included in this analysis. DPMfSAD (p<.001), DPMEmph (p=.003) were significantly increased in BE and this increased with severity. There were also increased mucus score (p=.014) and modified Reiff score (p=.045) in BE vs controls (Fig. 1) but no significant difference for bronchoarterial ratios. Significant lung structural alterations were demonstrated by quantitative CT in relation to disease severity in BE subjects. These measures provide key data for BE patient phenotyping and could potentially be used in clinical trials. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/OA5469/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>