Canadian Guidelines for the Management of Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Bronchitis: Executive Summary

1University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario; 2Laval University, Hopital Laval, Ste-Foy, Quebec; 3The Toronto Hospital, Toronto Medical Laboratories, Toronto, Ontario; 4McMaster University, Henderson General Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario Correspondence: Dr Meyer Balter, 640 – 600 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X5. Telephone 416-586-4663, fax 416-586-4736, e-mail mbalter@mtsinai.on.ca Reprints: Core Health Services Inc, 1800 Steeles Avenue West – Second Floor, Concord, Ontario L4K 2P3. Telephone 905-760-1991, fax 905-760-0587, e-mail coremail@idirect.com Acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) account for over 1.5 million physician visits annually in Canada and are a cause of significant morbidity and mortality. Canadian guidelines for the management of chronic bronchitis were published in 1994 (1). The present document is an update of our original guidelines, and is a joint effort by the Canadian Thoracic Society and the Canadian Infectious Disease Society.