Bronchiectasis following Atypical Pneumonia.

During the past year 45 patients have been treated for bronchiectasis. The symptoms in 20 of these patients followed attacks of atypical pneumonia occurring during the winter of 1942-1943. It is with these 20 patients whose bronchiectasis appears to have been related to atypical pneumonia that this paper is primarily concerned. In 3 of the 20 patients, the bronchiectasis appeared to be reversible as confirmed by subsequent bronchograms. These 3 patients showed less severe cylindric bronchiectasis, confined mainly to the larger bronchi. The remaining 17 patients had more extensive bronchial and bronchiolar destruction, and the damage appeared to be permanent. The diagnosis of atypical pneumonia was made at the time of the original illness, prior to transfer to this hospital, and was concurred with only after careful reexamination of the clinical records and roentgenograms. It is impossible, with the material available to us to determine the general incidence of bronchiectasis