Bacteriologic Analysis of Expectorated Sputum in Patient with Bronchiectasis

Methods: One hundred eleven adult patients, who had undergone chest computed tomography (CT), sputum gram stain/culture, and BE detected by chest CT, were included in this study. Sputum adequacy was determined by using Murray-Washington classification. Results: The mean (±SD) age of patients was 60.9 (±14.0). The number of PPMs was 167 (67%) in the total 248 isolated organisms. The most frequent PPMs were P. aeruginosa (23.4%), K. pneumoniae (10.5%), and S. aureus (8.4%). The proportion of adequate sputum (AS) was 25.8% in the total sputum specimens. The patients with AS were 41 (37%) and the patients with inadequate sputum (IS) were 70 (63%). The proportion of P. aeruginosa was higher in AS compared to that of IS (44% vs. 19%, p=0.004). The BE score was also higher in P. aeruginosa (+) patients compared to that of P. aeruginosa (−) patients (10.8 vs. 7.6, p=0.001). Conclusion: Although the proportion of AS in the total sputum was low, PPMs were isolated in most patients with BE. It is likely that P. aeruginosa was isolated in AS and AS patients had higher BE scores.