Aspectos clínicos e tomográficos de crianças com bronquiectasias não fibrocísticas em um serviço de pneumologia pediátrica

Abstract

Bronchiectasis is bronchial dilatation, usually diagnosed by chest tomography. Among the main causes are cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases and immunodeficiencies. In the pediatric age group there is a shortage of studies on non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. We seek to describe epidemiological, clinical and etiological characteristics of children and adolescents with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis accompanied in a pediatric Pneumology service. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study of a sample of 72 patients under 18 years of age, followed up in the pediatric Pneumology service of a tertiary hospital linked to the Unified Health Sys-tem, reference in pediatrics for patients in the capital and in the interior of the state of Ceará The diagnosis was based on tomographic findings. There was a predominance of males (57%). Although the vast majority (90%) started symptoms before the age of 5, less than half (45%) were diagnosed with bronchiectasis before this age group. Almost all patients (97%) reported cough, 90% had expectoration and 80% reported dyspnea. All patients presented crepitations in the auscultation. The most frequently affected lobes were the lowest (23%) and the predominant classification was cylindrical (65%). Among the etiologies, 39% were of unidentified cause followed by post-infectious (28%) immunodeficiency (21%), probable primary ciliary dyskinesia (8%) and aspiration syndrome (4%). We concluded that despite the early onset of symptoms, there was a delay in the diagnosis of bronchiectasis. The proportion of unidentified and post-infectious causes was high. Greater investment is needed to expand diagnostic resources in reference centres.

Keywords

• bronchiectasis
• cough
• tomography