• Simon Finch, Melissa J McDonnell, Hani Abo-Leyah, Stefano Aliberti, and James D Chalmers.
• 1 Tayside Respiratory Research Group, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.
• Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2015 Nov 1; 12 (11): 1602-11.

RationaleEradication and suppression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a key priority in national guidelines for bronchiectasis and is a major focus of drug development and clinical trials. An accurate estimation of the clinical impact of P. aeruginosa in bronchiectasis is therefore essential.MethodsData derived from 21 observational cohort studies comparing patients with P. aeruginosa colonization with those without it were pooled by random effects meta-analysis. Data were collected for key longitudinal clinical outcomes of mortality, hospital admissions, exacerbations, and lung function decline, along with cross-sectional outcomes such as quality of life.Measurements And Main ResultsIn the aggregate, the included studies comprised 3,683 patients. P. aeruginosa was associated with a highly significant and consistent increase in all markers of disease severity, including mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.98-4.40; P < 0.0001), hospital admissions (OR, 6.57; 95% CI, 3.19-13.51; P < 0.0001), and exacerbations (mean difference, 0.97/yr; 95% CI, 0.64-1.30; P < 0.0001). The patients with P. aeruginosa also had worse quality of life on the basis of their St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire results (mean difference, 18.2 points; 95% CI, 14.7-21.8; P < 0.0001). Large differences in lung function and radiological severity were also observed. The definitions of colonization were inconsistent among the studies, but the findings were robust regardless of the definition used.ConclusionP. aeruginosa is associated with an approximately threefold increased risk of death and an increase in hospital admissions and exacerbations in adult bronchiectasis.

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