Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
A 76-year-old man with a 50-year history of bronchiectasis developed hemoptysis over a 6-week period. He had previously recognized Pseudomonas colonization for which he was on chronic suppressive therapy. Despite empiric outpatient antibiotics for his hemoptysis, he required admission to his local rural hospital for intravenous antimicrobials and bronchoscopy for consideration of bronchial artery embolization. Sputum cultures during periods of relative clinical stability may impact patient management paradigms over time, including earlier treatment of exacerbations for individuals with bronchiectasis. Enhanced plating and quality of sputum cultures could lead to earlier recognition of colonizing airway pathogens and better-targeted antibiotic treatments.
Wagner et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: