SynthesisPloS one2014
Macrolide therapy in adults and children with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Management of Adult Bronchiectasis: Consensus-Based Guidelines of the German Respiratory Society.Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases · 2026Guideline
- Pooled it
- Macrolide antibiotics for bronchiectasis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Interventions for bronchiectasis: an overview of Cochrane systematic reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Effects of long-term use of macrolides in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC infectious diseases · 2015Pooled it
- Azithromycin or erythromycin? Macrolides for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in adults: A systematic review and adjusted indirect treatment comparison.Chronic respiratory diseasePooled it
- Lung function trajectories in children with early diagnosis of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: a retrospective observational study.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2024Observational
- Definition and Nomenclature of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Time for Its Revision.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2022Article
- Research advances and clinical management of bronchiectasis: Chinese perspective.ERJ open research · 2022Review
- Long-term, low-dose macrolide antibiotic treatment in pediatric chronic airway diseases.Pediatric research · 2022Review
- Duration of antibiotic therapy in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.Current pulmonology reports · 2019Article
- Brazilian consensus on non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2019Article
- Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Cough-Chinese Thoracic Society (CTS) Asthma Consortium.Journal of thoracic disease · 2018Review
- Vitamin DChronic respiratory disease · 2018Article
- The broad spectrum of lung diseases in primary antibody deficiencies.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2018Review
- Inertial Sensor-Based Gait and Attractor Analysis as Clinical Measurement Tool: Functionality and Sensitivity in Healthy Subjects and Patients With Symptomatic Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.Frontiers in physiology · 2018Article
- Inhaled Antibiotic Therapy in Chronic Respiratory Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2017Review
- Raising awareness of bronchiectasis in primary care: overview of diagnosis and management strategies in adults.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2017Review
- Suspecting non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: What the busy primary care clinician needs to know.International journal of clinical practice · 2017Review
- Bronchiectasis in Children: Current Concepts in Immunology and Microbiology.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of macrolide therapy in adults and children with bronchiectasis.
methodsWe searched the PUBMED, EMBASE, CENTRAL databases to identify relevant studies. Two reviewers evaluated the studies and extracted data independently. The primary outcome was the number of bronchiectasis exacerbations. Secondary outcomes included exacerbation-related admissions, quality of life (QoL), spirometry, 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and adverse events.
resultsNine eligible trials with 559 participants were included. Six were conducted on adults, and the remaining on children. Macrolide therapy significantly reduced the number of patients experiencing one or more exacerbation in adults [risk ratio (RR) = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.86; P = 0.006; I2 = 65%] and children [RR = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.75-0.99; P = 0.04; I2 = 0%], but not the number of patients with admissions for exacerbation. Macrolide therapy was also associated with reduced frequency of exacerbations in adults (RR = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.61; P<0.001; I2 = 64%) and children (RR = 0.50; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.71; P<0.001). Pooled analyses suggested that spirometry, including FEV1 and FVC, were significantly improved in adults but not in children. Macrolide therapy improved the QoL (WMD, -6.56; 95% CI, -11.99 to -1.12; P = 0.02; I2 = 86%) but no significant difference in 6MWT (WMD, 4.15; 95% CI, -11.83 to 20.13; P = 0.61; I2 = 31%) and the overall adverse events (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.13; P = 0.66; I2 = 0%) in adults. However, reports of diarrhea and abdominal discomforts were higher with macrolide therapy.
conclusionsMacrolide maintenance therapy, both in adults and children, was effective and safe in reducing bronchiectasis exacerbations, but not the admissions for exacerbations. In addition, macrolide administration in adults was associated with improvement in QoL and spirometry, but not 6WMT. Future studies are warranted to verify the optimal populations and clarify its potential effects on antimicrobial resistance.
Indexed as
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.