{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T01:37:16Z","timestamp":1780450636973,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,28]],"date-time":"2025-10-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761609600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) and bronchiectasis share common clinical and microbiological features, but direct comparative data in children are limited. Objectives: To compare bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) microbiology between pediatric PBB and bronchiectasis and identify predictors of lower airway and polymicrobial infections. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed children diagnosed with PBB or bronchiectasis at a tertiary center (January 2019\u2013June 2025) who underwent both high-resolution computed tomography of the chest and bronchoscopy with BAL within a 6-month period. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of lower airway and polymicrobial infections, adjusting for age, gender, tracheomalacia\/bronchomalacia, asthma, and Bhalla score. Results: Among 135 children (85 with PBB, 50 with bronchiectasis), those with bronchiectasis were older (median 7.8 vs. 4.2 years, p &lt; 0.001), while comorbidities showed statistically non-significant differences. The prevalence of lower airway infection was high (PBB 81.2%, bronchiectasis 74.0%; p = 0.330). Pathogen distribution demonstrated statistically non-significant differences between groups after adjustment, with Haemophilus influenzae being the most common pathogen in both groups. Moraxella catarrhalis was more frequent in PBB in unadjusted analysis (21.2% vs. 8.0%; p = 0.045), but this difference did not persist after adjustment. Polymicrobial infection occurred in 25.9% of PBB and 16.0% of bronchiectasis cases (p = 0.180). In regression analyses, younger age independently predicted polymicrobial infection (adjusted OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.69\u20130.95). Conclusions: BAL microbiology showed statistically non-significant differences between PBB and bronchiectasis, supporting the concept of a disease continuum. Younger children were more prone to polymicrobial infection. These findings support early targeted antibiotic therapy and close clinical surveillance to prevent progression to irreversible airway damage.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14217653","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,30]],"date-time":"2025-10-30T03:44:39Z","timestamp":1761795879000},"page":"7653","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Bacterial Isolates from Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Pediatric Patients with Protracted Bacterial Bronchitis or Bronchiectasis: A Retrospective Comparative Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Dafni","family":"Moriki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Unit, 3rd Department of Pediatrics, \u201cAttikon\u201d University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-5412-7361","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Tsouprou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Unit, 3rd Department of Pediatrics, \u201cAttikon\u201d University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, 1st Pediatric Clinic, Agia Sofia Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9651-8338","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Spyridon","family":"Prountzos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2nd Department of Radiology, \u201cAttikon\u201d University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Despoina","family":"Koumpagioti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michalis","family":"Kalogiannis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Unit, 3rd Department of Pediatrics, \u201cAttikon\u201d University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8466-4127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Efthymia","family":"Alexopoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2nd Department of Radiology, \u201cAttikon\u201d University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7632-1159","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantinos","family":"Douros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Unit, 3rd Department of Pediatrics, \u201cAttikon\u201d University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1002\/ppul.23351","article-title":"Protracted bacterial bronchitis: The last decade and the road ahead","volume":"51","author":"Chang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Pediatr. 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