Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42348458›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of respiratory and critical care medicine2026

The frequent exacerbator phenotype in bronchiectasis revisited: data from EMBARC registry.

Oriol Sibila, Lidia Perea, Pierre Regis Burgel, Eva Polverino, Rebecca C Hull, Merete B Long, Sanjay H Chotirmall, Michal Shteinberg, Jennifer Pollock, Jamie Stobo and 18 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

28 authors.

Oriol SibilaRespiratory Department, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERES, Barcelona, Spain.
Lidia PereaInstitut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Research Group of Inflammation and Repair in Respiratory Diseases, Barcelona, Spain.
Pierre Regis BurgelDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and French Cystic Fibrosis National Reference Center, Hôpital Cochin, AP-HP and Université Paris Cité, Inserm U1016, Institut Cochin, Paris, France.
Eva PolverinoPneumology Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, CIBERES, Barcelona, Spain.
Rebecca C HullDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Merete B LongDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Sanjay H ChotirmallLee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0003-0417-7607
Michal ShteinbergPulmonology Institute and CF Center, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
Jennifer PollockDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Jamie StoboDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Holly LindDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Charles HaworthRoyal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Katerina DimakouATTICA Rehabilitation Center, Athens, Greece.
Apostolos BossiosDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Michael R LoebingerHost Defence Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.
Raja DharDepartment of Pulmonology, CK Birla Hospitals, Kolkata, India.
Jin-Fu XuDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
Pontus MerschDepartment of Medicine V, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany.
Jessica RademacherDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Biomedical Research in End-Stage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover, German Centre for Lung Research, Hannover, Germany.
Hayoung ChoiDivision of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Natalie LorentDepartment of Respiratory Diseases, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Francesco BlasiDepartment of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Montserrat VendrellDepartment of Pulmonology, Dr Trueta University Hospital, Girona Biomedical Research Institute, Cerca. University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
Pieter GoeminneDepartment of Respiratory Disease, AZ Nikolaas, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.
Felix RingshausenDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Biomedical Research in End-Stage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover, German Centre for Lung Research, Hannover, Germany.
Anthony De SoyzaPopulation and Health Sciences Institute, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Aging, Newcastle University and Department of Respiratory Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-8566-0344
Stefano AlibertiDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan 20072, Italy.
James D ChalmersDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom.

Funding

Alarmin TherapeuticsAsthma and Lung UK Chair of Respiratory ResearchBoehringer IngelheimCentauri TherapeuticsClinical Research Collaboration EMBARC4European Respiratory SocietyGlaxoSmithKline
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleThe frequent exacerbator phenotype was previously defined using a threshold of  ≥3 exacerbations per year in bronchiectasis. However, the contribution of each prior exacerbation to future risk as well as the influence of severe exacerbations and different etiologies and regions remain poorly understood.

objectivesTo quantify the risk associated with each prior exacerbation of bronchiectasis in predicting future exacerbations and severe exacerbations, and to determine whether this association varies across different etiologies and geographic regions.

methodsWe analyzed data from the European Bronchiectasis Registry (EMBARC), including 30 countries across Europe and Asia. The association between baseline exacerbation history and future exacerbations was tested using negative binomial regression over up to 5 years of follow-up. Severe exacerbations were defined as those requiring hospitalization. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN

resultsA total of 19 324 patients with bronchiectasis were included. Each prior exacerbation was associated with an increased risk of exacerbations and severe exacerbations. Incidence rate ratio (IRR) for future exacerbations was 1.45 (95% CI 1.34-1.58, P < .001) for 1 exacerbation; 1.84 (95% CI 1.69-1.99, P < .001) for 2 exacerbations; 2.50 (95% CI 2.29-2.73, P < .001) for 3 exacerbations; and 3.56 (95% CI 3.32-3.82, P < .001) for patients with 4 or more prior exacerbations. Additionally, 1 prior severe exacerbation was associated with increased risk of exacerbation (IRR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.45-1.60, P < .001) and strongly associated with future severe exacerbations (IRR = 3.96, 95% CI 3.71-4.22, P < .001). The frequent exacerbator phenotype was consistent across different etiologies and geographic regions.

conclusionsThe frequent exacerbator phenotype is highly consistent across patient subgroups and regions. Each prior exacerbation is associated with a progressively higher risk, with no definitive threshold-defining high risk.

Indexed as

BronchiectasisDisease ProgressionAgedAsiaEuropeFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhenotypeRegistriesRisk Factorsetiologyexacerbation riskregion

Identifiers

PMID42348458
PMCPMC13519352

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.