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You are in: Home > Chest Information > Chest Conditions > Bronchiectasis > How Will I know If I Have Bronchiectasis?

How Will I Know If I Have Bronchiectasis?

• How is bronchiectasis diagnosed?
• Degree / Severity of bronchiectasis

How is bronchiectasis diagnosed?

If you have a chronic cough, produce regular sputum and (in some cases) have frequent chest infections your GP may suspect that you have bronchiectasis.

He / she will be able to organise some tests for you and, depending on the results of these, you may be referred to a specialist respiratory (chest) doctor.

The following tests may be organised by your GP:

• Chest x–ray: usually to exclude any other conditions or if your symptoms have worsened.
• Sputum specimens: to see if there are any micro organisms (germs) in your lungs. This will tell your doctor if you have an infection and exactly which antibiotic treatment is required.
• Blood tests: your GP may arrange for you to have routine blood tests taken.

If you see a specialist respiratory doctor you may have:

• More detailed blood tests: these can help to see how your immune system is working, if your body is producing an inflammatory response and if you have any other condition that could be causing your symptoms.
• More sputum specimens: including a 24–hour collection of your sputum for fungal culture. Three sputum samples may also be taken to test for TB.
• HRCT (High resolution computed tomography): An HRCT scan is needed to give a definite diagnosis of bronchiectasis. It uses special CT scanning techniques and is the most accurate non-invasive method of assessing lung tissue.
• Lung function tests: you may have some / all of the following tests to see how your lungs are working and assess the extent of damage to your lungs:
  • Peak flow test
  • Spirometry
  • Pulmonary function test (PFT)

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Degree / severity of bronchiectasis

Bronchiectasis is classified as mild or severe depending on the amount of damage to your airway(s) and the degree of your symptoms. As a general rule bronchiectasis is classified depending upon:

• The colour of the sputum you cough up. Sputum can be described as:

  • mucoid: mainly mucus (clear, white or grey)
  • muco–purulent: a combination of mucus and pus (yellow, green or brown)
  • purulent: mainly pus (yellow, green or brown)

  Sputum can also contain traces of blood: this is called haemoptysis.

• The amount of sputum you cough up: this can vary greatly from person to person. Some people cough up less than 10mls / day: this is the same as 2 teaspoons. Other people cough up large quantities, e.g. more than 30mls / day: this is the equivalent of a measuring container that comes with liquid medicines.
• Number of chest infections ('exacerbations') you have per year.
• If you have bacteria growing in your sputum even when you are well.

Degree/severity	Sputum colour	Sputum volume (per day)	No of chest infections/year	Bacteria in sputum even when well
MILD	None or mucoid/ muco–purulent	<10mls	<2	No
SEVERE	Muco–purulent/ purulent	>20mls	3 or more	Yes

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