Table 2 Patient characteristics according to the transition patterns of inflammatory types
From: Nationwide survey of refractory asthma with bronchiectasis by inflammatory subtypes
|  | N‡ | Low-to-low N = 20 | High’-to-low N = 21 | High’-to-high’ N = 44 | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age, years | 85 | 62.0 ± 15.2 | 71.3 ± 11.1 | 64.6 ± 12.1 | 0.08 |
Sex, male, n (%) | 85 | 7 (35.0) | 8 (38.1) | 16 (36.4) | 0.98 |
Body mass index, kg/m2 | 73 | 22.9 ± 3.9 | 22.2 ± 4.2 | 22.7 ± 4.3 | 0.90 |
Follow-up period, years | 85 | 7.8 ± 5.4 | 9.3 ± 5.3 | 7.8 ± 6.2 | 0.29 |
Smoking history, never/past/current, % | 84 | 60/40/0 | 71/29/0 | 61/33/7 | 0.46 |
Age at diagnosis of asthma, years | 82 | 37.6 ± 21.8 | 51.4 ± 21.3 | 44.3 ± 19.9 | 0.14 |
Age at diagnosis of bronchiectasis/bronchiolitis, years | 76 | 56.9 ± 14.7 | 64.3 ± 11.0 | 59.3 ± 14.9 | 0.32 |
Period from asthma diagnosis to bronchiectasis/bronchiolitis diagnosis, years | 74 | 19.3 ± 19.3§ | 5.9 ± 7.1 | 15.1 ± 15.8 | 0.03 |
Current ICS dose, μg/day (eq. to FP) | 83 | 513 ± 317¶ | 698 ± 303 | 802 ± 400 | 0.03 |
Maximum dose of ICS in the past, μg/day (eq. to FP) | 73 | 653 ± 322 | 575 ± 438 | 536 ± 407 | 0.54 |
OCS use, never/past/current | 83 | 16/2/2§ | 7/2/11 | 27/8/8 | 0.01 |
OCS dose in long-term OCS* user, < 5 mg/day / ≥ 5 mg/day/missing (eq. to prednisolone), n | 33 | 1/3/0 | 5/7/1 | 5/11/0 | 0.78 |
Most effective treatment in stable phase† ICS, n (%) | 84 | 5 (26.3) | 2 (9.5)¶ | 23 (52.3) | 0.002 |
 OCS, n (%) | 85 | 2 (10.0) § | 8 (38.1)¶ | 6 (13.6) | 0.03 |
 Macrolide therapy, n (%) | 85 | 5 (25.0) ¶ | 4 (19.0) | 3 (6.8) | 0.12 |
Most effective treatment on exacerbation† SCS, n (%) | 82 | 7 (35.0) | 12 (63.2) | 24 (55.8) | 0.17 |
 Antibiotics, n (%) | 78 | 6 (31.6) ¶ | 5 (26.3)¶ | 2 (5.0) | 0.02 |
Current data: Blood eosinophil counts, /μL | 85 | 127 ± 98¶ | 144 ± 98¶ | 599 ± 575 |  < 0.0001 |
 Serum total IgE, IU/mL | 53 | 224 ± 312¶ | 384 ± 386 | 552 ± 670 | 0.055 |
 Serum C-reactive protein, mg/dL | 69 | 1.0 ± 2.0 | 1.0 ± 1.4 | 0.7 ± 2.1 | 0.37 |
 Exhaled nitric oxide, ppb | 85 | 15.3 ± 7.1¶ | 18.5 ± 8.1¶ | 71.4 ± 55.3 |  < 0.0001 |
Modified Reiff score | 82 | 2.6 ± 3.6 | 3.9 ± 3.9 | 2.2 ± 2.3 | 0.37 |
Number of lobes affected by bronchiolitis | 75 | 3.6 ± 2.2 | 3.5 ± 2.6 | 2.1 ± 2.1 | 0.02 |
Gram-negative bacteria ( +) in sputum, n (%) | 67 | 12 (66.7) ¶ | 9 (56.3)§ | 4 (12.1) | 0.0001 |
P. aeruginosa ( +) in the latest sputum, n (%) | 67 | 7 (38.9) ¶ | 6 (37.5)§ | 1 (3.0) | 0.002 |
Past data: Blood eosinophil counts, /μL | 85 | 132 ± 85§¶ | 529 ± 346 | 645 ± 545 |  < 0.0001 |
 Serum total IgE, IU/mL | 57 | 434 ± 562 | 372 ± 451 | 1271 ± 2952 | 0.10 |
 Serum C-reactive protein, mg/dL | 71 | 1.6 ± 2.0¶ | 0.5 ± 0.5 | 0.3 ± 0.4 | 0.006 |
 Exhaled nitric oxide, ppb | 85 | 13.5 ± 6.5§¶ | 37.9 ± 19.5¶ | 75.5 ± 62.3 |  < 0.0001 |
Modified Reiff score | 82 | 3.2 ± 3.5 | 2.8 ± 2.9 | 1.9 ± 2.3 | 0.30 |
Number of lobes affected by bronchiolitis | 72 | 3.7 ± 1.8¶ | 3.0 ± 2.3 | 2.3 ± 2.0 | 0.06 |
Gram-negative bacteria ( +) in sputum, n (%) | 71 | 8 (44.4) | 7 (38.9) | 8 (22.9) | 0.22 |
P. aeruginosa ( +) in sputum, n (%) | 71 | 4 (22.2) | 5 (27.8)¶ | 2 (5.7) | 0.07 |
Presence of hospitalisation for exacerbation in the last 2Â years, n (%) | 83 | 7 (35.0) | 7 (35.0) | 6 (14.0) | 0.08 |