Introduction: Although European guidelines suggest eradication of new isolates of P. aeruginosa in bronchiectasis patients, large, real-life data are needed.

Materials and methods: Analysis of the EMBARC registry, a prospective observational study. Patients with clinically and radiologically significant bronchiectasis and microbiological evidence of P. aeruginosa up to 2 years before registry enrolment have been included. Eradication treatment has been defined according to the judgement of the prescribing clinician.

Results: Among the 3,752 patients from 30 different countries (60.5% female, median age 68.0 years), 2,780 (74.1%) have been treated with antimicrobial therapy aimed at Pseudomonas eradication. Wide heterogeneity across countries has been assessed, ranging from 31% of patients treated with eradication in Moldova to 100% of patients in Croatia, Romania, and Sweden. No significant difference in terms of eradication was found between patients with mucoid vs non mucoid Pseudomonas (79.3% vs 76.5%, P: 0.158). Patients treated with eradication were overall younger (median [IQR] age: 67 [57-74] vs 68 [58-75], P: 0.009) with greater functional impairment (FEV1%: 60.3 [43.6-80.6] vs 66.7 [46.1-84.8], P < 0.001) and higher severity of the disease (BSI: 12 [9-15] vs 11 [8-14], P: 0.002).

Conclusion: Eradication therapy is widely used for the treatment of bronchiectasis patients with a new isolation of P. aeruginosa.
 
Acknowledgments: EMBARC has received support from the EU/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking iABC grant agreement no 115721.