Bronchiectasis, sarcoidosis, pulmonary fibrosis

1. Big picture

This topic groups three important chronic pulmonary diseases that commonly appear in exams as chronic cough, dyspnea, abnormal chest imaging, and impaired pulmonary function tests.

Think of them as three different patterns:

Disease	Core pattern	Key investigation
Bronchiectasis	Chronic productive cough + recurrent infections + hemoptysis	High-resolution CT
Sarcoidosis	Young/middle-aged adult + bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy + erythema nodosum/uveitis/arthritis	Chest imaging + biopsy if needed
Pulmonary fibrosis / interstitial lung disease	Progressive exertional dyspnea + dry cough + fine “Velcro” crackles + restrictive PFT	HRCT + PFT ± autoimmune workup

High-yield clinical logic:

Chronic sputum + infections → think bronchiectasis
Bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy + systemic granulomatous signs → think sarcoidosis
Progressive dry dyspnea + restrictive PFT + basal fibrosis → think pulmonary fibrosis

Bronchiectasis, sarcoidosis, pulmonary fibrosis

1. Big picture

PART A — BRONCHIECTASIS

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