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Guidelines for treating patients with bronchiectasis recommend limiting inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use to those who have coexisting asthma, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; Eur Respir J 2017; 50:1700629), but patients without indications often receive ICS anyway. Investigators examined these patterns using international registry data from 19,000 people with bronchiectasis who were followed for as long as 5 years.
Key findings were as follows:
Half of patients received ICS, including one third of those without indications.
Patients prescribed ICS had more-severe bronchiectasis than others, with worse lung function, more exacerbations, and greater daily sputum volume.
Among patients withou…