A recent study co-authored by Kunal Jakharia, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the UNC Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, and published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, found that people with bronchiectasis and chronic sinus disease were more likely to have mucus samples that tested positive for a bacteria known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Bronchiectasis is a chronic lung disease that causes permanent widening and damage of the airways that can lead to mucus buildup, a long-term cough, shortness of breath, and repeated lung infections. Dr. Jakharia and the other researchers sought to discover if people with bronchiectasis and rhinosinusitis, a condition that causes long-term inflammation in the nose and sinuses, were more likely to have certain bacteria in their lungs.
Speaking on the study, Jakharia said, “This study helps connect what we see in the sinuses with what may be happening in the lungs,” and “For patients with bronchiectasis, chronic sinus disease may be an important clue that we should look closely for Pseudomonas. Finding this bacteria matters because it can be harder to treat and is linked with more severe lung disease.”
The findings from this study indicate that doctors caring for patients with bronchiectasis may need to pay closer attention to sinus disease and bacterial testing. More research will be required to understand whether treating chronic sinus disease could help reduce bacterial infection or improve outcomes for people with bronchiectasis.
Read the full story on the UNC School of Medicine newsroom.