Etiology, clinical, radiological and microbiological profile of patients with non-CF bronchiectasis in Tunisia

<b>Introduction:</b> Although considered as an orphan disease in the developed countries, non-Cystic Fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis is common in our country as in all emerging ones. <b>Aims:</b> To identify the underlying causes, clinical, radiological, microbiological and lung function profile of patients with bronchiectasis. <b>Methods:</b> We retrospectively evaluated patients with non-CF bronchiectasis confirmed by HRCT of the chest. Aetiology, clinical data, radiology score and microbiological profile were investigated. <b>Results:</b> We evaluated 71 patients (37 women) with bronchiectasis. Mean age was 60.2 years.&nbsp;Post-infectious (28.1%) and past tuberculosis (TB) (35.2%) were the most common underlying causes, while no cause was found in 34% of the patients. The main symptoms were cough (88.7%), dyspnea (80.2%), mucopurulent sputum (50.7%) and haemoptysis (25.3%). Infectious exacerbations were observed in 24% of the patients with a mean frequency of 2 per year. P.aeruginosa was the most common pathogen yielded in sputum cultures (35.2%). Chest CT scan showed diffused bronchiectasis in 64.7% of cases, localized in 19.7% and bilateral in 80.2%. Complications are dominated by broncho-pulmonary infections (56.3% of cases) and hemoptysis (25.3%). Twelve patients (17%) with diffused and bilateral bronchiectasis have evolved to chronic respiratory failure. <b>Conclusion:</b> In Tunisia, past tuberculosis remains an important cause of bronchiectasis, while P.aeruginosa is the predominant pathogen colonizing the airways contributing to the severity of the disease.