Abstract
Bronchiectasis is bronchial dilatation, usually diagnosed by chest tomography. Among the main causes are cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases and immunodeficiencies. In the pediatric age group there is a shortage of studies on non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. We seek to describe epidemiological, clinical and etiological characteristics of children and adolescents with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis accompanied in a pediatric Pneumology service. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study of a sample of 72 patients under 18 years of age, followed up in the pediatric Pneumology service of a tertiary hospital linked to the Unified Health Sys-tem, reference in pediatrics for patients in the capital and in the interior of the state of Ceará The diagnosis was based on tomographic findings. There was a predominance of males (57%). Although the vast majority (90%) started symptoms before the age of 5, less than half (45%) were diagnosed with bronchiectasis before this age group. Almost all patients (97%) reported cough, 90% had expectoration and 80% reported dyspnea. All patients presented crepitations in the auscultation. The most frequently affected lobes were the lowest (23%) and the predominant classification was cylindrical (65%). Among the etiologies, 39% were of unidentified cause followed by post-infectious (28%) immunodeficiency (21%), probable primary ciliary dyskinesia (8%) and aspiration syndrome (4%). We concluded that despite the early onset of symptoms, there was a delay in the diagnosis of bronchiectasis. The proportion of unidentified and post-infectious causes was high. Greater investment is needed to expand diagnostic resources in reference centres.