Bronchiolectasis: The clinical syndrome and its relationship to chronic lung disease

A clinical syndrome suggestive of chronic bronchiolar catarrh observed in six patients was characterized by prolonged exposure to irritating inhalents, chronic productive cough, the absence of postural accentuation of sputum production and episodes of hemoptysis associated with the appearance of mucopus in the sputum. Bronchographic examination in these patients revealed only bronchiolar changes consistent with the roentgenologic diagnosis of bronchiolectasis. The probable role of an airway lesion at the bronchiolar level in the pathogenesis of hypertrophic emphysema makes it clinically feasible to separate these patients from others with chronic catarrhal airway disease. Early bronchographic examination in patients with suspected chronic bronchiolar catarrh provides a means for the identification of bronchiolar changes before the onset of disabling lung disease.