Bronchiectasis in Childhood and Adult Pulmonary Tuberculosis

¹ Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Medical School, Havana.
² Assistant Professor, Medical School, Havana.

Bronchiectasis is a common sequel of chronic pulmonary tuberculosis, generally affecting the upper lobes.

In primary tuberculosis of infancy and childhood, bronchiectasis is the result of extrinsic compression and, at times, infiltration of the bronchi by enlarged lymph nodes. This compression leads to obstruction and atelectasis, inducing dilatation.

Segmentary branches and the main middle lobe bronchus are the ones most commonly affected by lymph node encroachment.

In most of these cases bronchiectasis is of dry uncomplicated type, but occasionally large secreting dilatation results, leading to invalidism. Recurring haemoptisis is a rather frequent symptom in such cases.

In the adult, bronchiectasis in tuberculosis results from intrinsic obstructive and stenotic lesions of the bronchi, leading to chronic atelectasis and retractile fibrosis.

There is, in all probability, a relation between residual bronchiectasis, of the type we have described in primary tuberculosis of the child and suppurative bronchiectasis in later life. This relation should be investigated by repeated examinations of patients over a long period of time.