• Si Ling Young, Youxin Puan, Si Yuan Chew, Salahudeen Mohamed Haja Mohideen, Pei Yee Tiew, Gan Liang Tan, Mariko Siyue Koh, and Ken Cheah Hooi Lee.
• Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
• Ann Acad Med Singap. 2021 Jul 1; 50 (7): 556-565.

IntroductionNon-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is a highly heterogenous disease. We describe the clinical characteristics of NCFB patients and evaluate the performance of Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI) in predicting mortality.MethodsPatients attending the bronchiectasis clinic between August 2015 and April 2020 with radiologically proven bronchiectasis on computed tomography were recruited. Clinical characteristics, spirometry, radiology, microbiology and clinical course over a median period of 2.4 years is presented.ResultsA total of 168 patients were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. They were predominantly women (67.8%), Chinese (87.5%) and never-smokers (76.9%). Median age of diagnosis was 64 years (interquartile range 56-71) and the most common aetiology was "idiopathic" bronchiectasis (44.6%). Thirty-nine percent had normal spirometries. Compared to female patients, there were more smokers among the male patients (53.8% versus 8.5%, P<0.001) and a significantly larger proportion with post-tuberculous bronchiectasis (37.0% vs 15.8%, P=0.002). Fifty-five percent of our cohort had a history of haemoptysis. Lower body mass index, presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ever-smoker status, modified Reiff score, radiological severity and history of exacerbations were risk factors for mortality. Survival was significantly shorter in patients with severe bronchiectasis (BSI>9) compared to those with mild or moderate disease (BSI<9). The hazard ratio for severe disease (BSI>9) compared to mild disease (BSI 0-4) was 14.8 (confidence interval 1.929-114.235, P=0.01).ConclusionThe NCFB cohort in Singapore has unique characteristics with sex differences. Over half the patients had a history of haemoptysis. The BSI score is a useful predictor of mortality in our population.

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