Skip to main content
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1985 May;40(5):376–379. doi: 10.1136/thx.40.5.376

Bronchiectasis and oligospermia: two families.

P B Davis, V S Hubbard, A J Garvin
PMCID: PMC460070  PMID: 4023992

Abstract

Five patients from two families had a bronchiectasis syndrome; the men also had oligospermia with poor progressive sperm motility. None of the patients had cystic fibrosis, alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, immunoglobulin deficiency, structural abnormalities of the bronchi, or abnormalities of ciliary ultrastructure. Onset of pulmonary symptoms was in the neonatal period or infancy, and bronchitis and bronchiectasis were most severe in the middle and lower lobes. Two patients had sinusitis and two otitis. The two men old enough to be studied had 2-10 X 10(6) sperm/ml of ejaculate with less than 10% progressively motile. There were no other associated anomalies. These patients probably had a distinct genetic error predisposing to pulmonary infection leading to bronchiectasis and, in men, oligospermia with poor progressive motility.

Full text

PDF
376

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Afzelius B. A. A human syndrome caused by immotile cilia. Science. 1976 Jul 23;193(4250):317–319. doi: 10.1126/science.1084576. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Afzelius B. A., Mossberg B. Immotile cilia. Thorax. 1980 Jun;35(6):401–404. doi: 10.1136/thx.35.6.401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Eliasson R., Mossberg B., Camner P., Afzelius B. A. The immotile-cilia syndrome. A congenital ciliary abnormality as an etiologic factor in chronic airway infections and male sterility. N Engl J Med. 1977 Jul 7;297(1):1–6. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197707072970101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hendry W. F., Knight R. K., Whitfield H. N., Stansfeld A. G., Pryse-Davies J., Ryder T. A., Pavia D., Bateman J. R., Clarke S. W. Obstructive azoospermia: respiratory function tests, electron microscopy and the results of surgery. Br J Urol. 1978 Dec;50(7):598–604. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410x.1978.tb06221.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Herzon F. S., Murphy S. Normal ciliary ultrastructure in children with Kartagener's syndrome. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1980 Jan-Feb;89(1 Pt 1):81–83. doi: 10.1177/000348948008900120. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hilton A. M., Doyle L. Immunological abnormalities in bronchiectasis with chronic bronchial suppuration. Br J Dis Chest. 1978 Jul;72(3):207–216. doi: 10.1016/0007-0971(78)90043-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Neville E., Brewis R., Yeates W. K., Burridge A. Respiratory tract disease and obstructive azoospermia. Thorax. 1983 Dec;38(12):929–933. doi: 10.1136/thx.38.12.929. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Turner J. A., Corkey C. W., Lee J. Y., Levison H., Sturgess J. Clinical expressions of immotile cilia syndrome. Pediatrics. 1981 Jun;67(6):805–810. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WYNN-WILLIAMS N. Bronchiectasis: a study centred on Bedford and its environs. Br Med J. 1953 May 30;1(4821):1194–1199. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.4821.1194. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Young D. Surgical treatment of male infertility. J Reprod Fertil. 1970 Dec;23(3):541–542. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0230541. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. di Sant'agnese P. A., Davis P. B. Cystic fibrosis in adults. 75 cases and a review of 232 cases in the literature. Am J Med. 1979 Jan;66(1):121–132. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(79)90491-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES