TITLE:
Impact of Immunoglobulin E and Airway Obstruction on Bronchiectasis
AUTHORS:
Wafaa Ali Hassan, Ibrahiem Shalan, Mohammed Khalifa
KEYWORDS:
Atopy, Bronchiectasis, IgE
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Respiratory Diseases,
Vol.4 No.2,
April
11,
2014
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Although an increased prevalence of airway obstruction, bronchial hyperreactivity
and allergic diseases such as asthma has been associated with bronchiectasis, studies investigating
role of atopy in bronchiectasis are few and controversial. We have therefore studied IgE level
and reversible airways obstruction in bronchiectasis which have not previously been evaluated in
bronchiectasis. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted at Department of Chest Diseases
of Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt from January 2012 to December 2013, all consecutive patients
with bronchiectasis admitted to the department were enrolled to the study. Serum IgE,
pulmonary function tests (PFT) and high resolution computerized tomography (HRCT) were done
to all cases. Results: Patients with high IgE (32/50) had longer disease duration and frequent history
of allergic diseases. They also had significantly worse FEV1 (49.38 ± 12.65; p = 0.041) and
FEV1/FVC (60.89 ± 13.52, p = 0.015) values. Mean HRCT score was significantly higher in patients
with high IgE than in patients with normal (18/50) IgE (23.6 ± 10.1 and 7.83 ± 2.43 respectively).
IgE showed positive correlation (r = 0.266, p = 0.015) with HRCT scores. Furthermore, the mean
increase in FEV1 after inhalation of salbutamol was significantly greater (p = 0.002) in high IgE patients.
Conclusions: In conclusion, IgE level is significantly high in bronchiectasis and it may lead to
worse pulmonary function and more HRCT extent. Appreciable reversible airways obstruction
should be sought in all cases of bronchiectasis and treated appropriately.