Time to Reconsider Mucoactive Agents for Airway Clearance

Bronchiectasis is characterized by multifocal airway dilatation and wall thickening observed on computed tomography of the chest and is commonly accompanied by persistent or recurrent infection of the airways.1 Bronchiectasis is a hallmark of cystic fibrosis and often overlaps with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Approximately 500,000 adults in the United States have bronchiectasis. Professional-society guidelines2-4 emphasize two complementary strategies for treating symptomatic bronchiectasis: administration of antibiotic agents for exacerbations (selected on the basis of sputum-culture results) and techniques to augment clearance of purulent secretions from the airways. Airway clearance is considered to be important not only because retained . . .