Heterogeneity in bronchiectasis service provision in Europe: Baseline data from the European bronchiectasis registry (EMBARC)

<b>Introduction:</b> One of the aims of the European Bronchiectasis Registry is to improve service provision and care for bronchiectasis across Europe. The first step in this process is to understand how bronchiectasis care is currently delivered in European centres. <b>Methods:</b> Sites participating in the bronchiectasis registry completed a web-based registration questionnaire detailing their available resources, estimated number of patients and provision of specialist services. <b>Results:</b> Until February 2014, 206 centres registered to participate in the European bronchiectasis registry representing an estimated 26,898 patients from 33 European countries. The largest centre reported &gt;1000 patients (UK) with the smallest reporting 4 patients (Latvia). Mean number of patients per centre was 130 but with large variations. Very large services (&gt;300 patients) were reported…