It has long been extremely discouraging to treat patients who have bronchiectasis. With the advent of bronchoscopy as a means of diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary conditions, renewed interest has been manifested in the disease. Modes of treatment have been devised and modified, and investigations along etiologic lines have been carried out to establish, if possible, other factors that might in some way influence the present methods of treatment.
Attention was directed by Mullin1 to the frequent association of bronchiectasis and disease of the nasal accessory sinuses. He found that these conditions coexisted in practically all of his cases of bronchiectasis. In an investigation to determine whether this was a causal relationship, Mullin and Ryder2 carried out a series of experimental studies on animals. They definitely established a lymphatic route which connects the paranasal sinuses with the bronchi and lungs, via the lymph nodes and vessels, lymphatic