Short review on the diagnosis and treatment of bronchiectasis

Bronchiectasis refers to the permanent dilation of the bronchi. It is often a sequel of insufficiently treated lung disease that develops into a pathological pattern of dilated bronchi, which heightens susceptibility to further lung infections. Modernization of diagnostic procedures (computed tomography scan) and definition of a clinical picture (repeated lung infections with a chronic cough and persistent sputum production) have raised international awareness of the prevalence of the disease, leading to increasing interest in reviewing and renewing the treatment guidelines. We selectively conducted a research on PubMed using the following keywords: "bronchiectasis", "diagnosis", "treatment", "management", "antibiotics". This review focuses solely on bronchiectasis not due to cystic fibrosis. All relevant articles published after the year of 2000 were included. The aim of this review is to provide an analytical update on the management of bronchiectasis, focusing on etiological factors as well as existing and developing treatment options for the disease.