Severe uncontrolled asthma with bronchiectasis: a pilot study of an emerging phenotype that responds to mepolizumab

Giovanna E Carpagnano,1 Giulia Scioscia,1 Donato Lacedonia,1 Giacomo Curradi,2 Maria Pia Foschino Barbaro1 1Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy; 2Medical and Scientific Department, GlaxoSmithKline, Verona, Italy Background: Asthma and bronchiectasis are different conditions that frequently coexist. The prevalence of bronchiectasis rises considerably in subjects with severe asthma (25%–51%).Objective: We evaluated the clinical and biological efficacy of mepolizumab on our pilot population of severe uncontrolled asthmatics with bronchiectasis not related to other pathologies.Patients and methods: Four patients with severe uncontrolled asthma and diagnosed as bronchiectasis were recruited and started biological treatment with mepolizumab. Standard investigations were performed in all four patients at baseline (T0), after 3 months (T1) and after 1 year (T2) of treatment.Results: After 1 year (T2) of therapy with mepolizumab, patients showed a significant increment of asthma control test value (12±1.1 vs 24.5±0.3, P