[Bronchiectasis in a patient with ulcerative colitis]

Bronchopulmonary involvement is uncommon in ulcerative colitis. Bronchiectasis is a rare manifestation of the disease. We report a case of a 65-year-old patient with ulcerative colitis in whom we diagnosed bronchiectasis. The evidence of a relationship between bronchiectasis and ulcerative colitis was established on the basis of 3 criteria: the late occurrence of bronchiectasis in a patient without pulmonary history, their appearance after the ulcerative colitis developed and their improvement after inhaled corticosteroid treatment. This observation points out that ulcerative colitis investigations should be extended to the respiratory structures. The respiratory involvement is not always concomitant with the bowel disease. This observation suggests the efficiency of the inhaled corticosteroids in this disease.