How to diagnose diffuse bronchiectasis

There are many bronchial diseases, bronchiectasis is one of them, and it is further divided into diffuse bronchiectasis, etc. But how to diagnose diffuse bronchiectasis? In order to be able to better differentiate these diseases in clinical practice, they can make a diagnosis by referring to the characteristics of chest X-rays or bronchial angiography.

1. Chronic bronchitis

It is more common in patients over middle age. Cough, sputum or wheezing may occur in winter and spring, mostly with white mucus sputum, and purulent sputum when infection occurs. During an acute attack, there are scattered dry and wet rales at both lung bases. Unlike the fixed wet rales of bronchiectasis, the wet rales in this disease are variable and may disappear after coughing.

2. Lung abscess

The disease has an acute onset, with chills and high fever. After a large amount of purulent sputum is coughed up, the body temperature drops and the symptoms of systemic toxic blood are alleviated. X-rays show large, dense inflammatory shadows with cavities and fluid levels in between. The acute phase can completely resolve after effective antibiotic treatment. Chronic lung abscess may be complicated by bronchiectasis if there is a history of acute lung abscess, and bronchiectasis may also be complicated by lung abscess. The definitive diagnosis depends on bronchial lipiodol contrast or CT.

3. Tuberculosis

Most patients have symptoms of tuberculosis poisoning such as low fever, night sweats, general fatigue, weight loss, etc., accompanied by cough, sputum, and hemoptysis, and the amount of sputum is generally small. Rales are usually located at the apex of the lung. Chest X-rays often show patchy infiltration shadows in the upper part of the lungs. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be found in sputum or the PCK method is positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA.

4. Congenital lung cysts

Cough, sputum and hemoptysis often occur after secondary infection. After the disease was under control, the chest X-ray showed multiple circular shadows with clear boundaries, thin walls, and no infiltration of the surrounding lung tissue.