In Reply

Many thanks for your comment on our review article on the diagnosis and treatment of bronchiectasis. We agree that in individual cases examination of ejaculate may provide evidence of underlying illnesses associated with bronchiectasis. In our article we were obliged to limit ourselves to the most important differential diagnoses and to present the main diagnostic procedures. In our opinion, examination of ejaculate is not part of standard diagnosis for this disease. Rather, it should be put to targeted use to answer specific questions, particularly when family planning plays a role.

DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2012.0315b

Dr. med. Jessica Rademacher

Prof. Dr. med. Tobias Welte

Medizinische Hochschule Hannover

Abteilung Pneumologie

welte.tobias@mh-hannover.de

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Rademacher has received honoraria for speaking from Forest and MSD.

Professor Welte has received honoraria for acting as an adviser from Novartis, Bayer Pharma, and Gilead.