ArticleThorax2025
Use of inhaled corticosteroids in bronchiectasis: data from the European Bronchiectasis Registry (EMBARC).
Article in Thorax, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The European respiratory society guideline for adult bronchiectasis 2025: summary and implementation guide for primary care.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Guideline
- Clinical impact of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease and colonization: a multicentre prospective cohort study.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Blood Eosinophil Count, Disease Severity, and Exacerbation Risk in Korean Patients with Bronchiectasis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2026Article
- Age-Specific Considerations in Bronchiectasis Management: Focus on Older Adults with Emphasis on Anti-inflammatory Treatment.Drugs & aging · 2026Review
- Resource impact of bronchiectasis and associated exacerbations: based on a 5-year prospective observational cohort study (BronchUK).BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Observational
- Type 2 inflammation, bronchiectasis and clinical trials: expanding from MAHALE.ERJ open research · 2026Article
- Targeting Inflammation in Bronchiectasis.Drugs · 2026Review
- Treatable traits in paediatric bronchiectasis: current practice and a proposed checklist.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Bronchiectasis in Italy: an analysis of the EMBARC registry.ERJ open research · 2026Article
- Article
- The importance of symptoms in bronchiectasis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- The European Respiratory Society guideline for management of adult bronchiectasis: clinical summary.Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2026Review
- Bronchiectasis Treatment Goals, Unmet Needs, and Emerging Therapies: A Podcast.Pulmonary therapy · 2026Article
- From evidence to practice: What the 2025 European Respiratory Society Bronchiectasis Guideline means for India.Lung India : official organ of Indian Chest Society · 2026Article
- Inflammatory Phenotypes of Bronchiectasis.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Review
- Bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids use in major global bronchiectasis registries.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- The role of T-helper and T regulatory cells in driving neutrophilic and eosinophilic inflammation in bronchiectasis.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
43 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCurrent bronchiectasis guidelines advise against the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) except in patients with associated asthma, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study aimed to describe the use of ICS in patients with bronchiectasis across Europe.
methodsPatients with bronchiectasis were enrolled into the European Bronchiectasis Registry from 2015 to 2022. Patients were grouped into ICS users and non-users at baseline and clinical characteristics associated with ICS use were investigated. Patients were followed up for clinical outcomes of exacerbation, hospitalisation and mortality for up to 5 years. We evaluated if elevated blood eosinophil counts (above the laboratory upper limit of normal) modified the effect of ICS on exacerbations.
results19 324 patients were included for analysis and 10 109 (52.3%) were recorded as being prescribed ICS at baseline. After exclusion of patients with a history of asthma, COPD and/or ABPA, 3174/9715 (32.7%) patients with bronchiectasis were prescribed ICS. Frequency of ICS use varied across countries, ranging from 17% to 85% of included patients. ICS users had more severe disease, with significantly worse lung function, higher Bronchiectasis Severity Index scores and more frequent exacerbations at baseline (p<0.0001). Overall, ICS users did not have a reduced risk of exacerbation or hospitalisation during follow-up, but a significant reduction in exacerbation frequency was observed in the subgroup of ICS users with elevated blood eosinophil counts (relative risk 0.70, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.84, p<0.001).
conclusionICS use is common in bronchiectasis, including in those not currently recommended ICS according to bronchiectasis guidelines. ICS use may be associated with reduced exacerbation frequency in patients with elevated blood eosinophils.
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