Chronic respiratory diseases are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD); however, it is unknown whether some respiratory diseases are at higher risk than others. In this perspective, head-to-head studies comparing bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are encouraged. We explored whether the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia) and cardiovascular comorbidity (systemic hypertension, ischemic heart diseases, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke) are different in these two diseases.

The present retrospective case-control study aimed to compare patients with bronchiectasis with age and sex-matched individuals with COPD. A total of 63 patients with bronchiectasis and 63 with COPD were retained for analysis.

Patients with bronchiectasis had a lower risk of systemic hypertension (OR 0.42 (C.I. 0.20 to 0.87)) and diabetes mellitus (OR 0.28 (C.I. 0.09 to 0.81)). In contrast, ischemic heart diseases, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke, and hyperlipidemia did not differ between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, male sex, and COPD remain independent risk factors for having at least one condition of a composite index including the above-mentioned CVD and CV risk factors. In detail, a patient with COPD has a risk of 4.648 times (C.I. 1.48 to 15.78) for having at least one CVD compared with a patient with bronchiectasis.

The current findings suggest that subjects with bronchiectasis may experience lower cardiovascular risk than those with COPD. Larger studies are needed to confirm this preliminary observation and its clinical implications.