The fact that the patient with bronchiectasis is a chronic invalid, whose lite expectancy is shortened by ever recurring attacks of pneumonia, makes the condition one of the most dreaded of pulmonary afflictions. With the general acceptance of the conviction that bronchiectasis in adults frequently has its inception in early life, the importance of the disease in children is receiving increasing attention. As with preventive measures in all branches of medicine, the interest in this particular condition has been extending more and more to early recognition and especially to prevention.
This study has been undertaken with the object of finding the essential causes which contribute to the formation of bronchiectasis and of discovering the earliest clinical picture which requires watching.
Material for this study has been provided by the chest clinic of the children's medical service of Bellevue Hospital. The detailed analysis of the history, symptoms, physical signs and roentgenograms