Bronchiectasis Phenotype in COPD Patients

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis have as many features in common as they have differences. They are both chronic airway diseases with a similar inflammatory profile and they often present an interchangeable clinical and functional picture but nevertheless their diagnosis, treatment, and evolution set them apart. It has recently been discovered, however, that the resemblance between these 2 diseases could be more than a matter of chance, and that their relationship could have distinct therapeutic and prognostic implications, which would mean that patients with both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis would present a distinct clinical phenotypic profile. Further studies are required to investigate whether they also have a specific genotypic profile.