Original articleImprovements in Lung Function Outcomes in Children with Cystic Fibrosis are Associated with Better Nutrition, Fewer Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections, and Dornase Alfa Use
Section snippets
Methods
We reviewed our database for lung function and nutritional data for all patients with CF born between 1985 and 2000 treated in our CF center at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center before age 5 years. The patients were divided into 2 equal birth cohorts: birth cohort 1 (born between 1985 and 1992) and birth cohort 2 (born between 1993 and 2000).
Lung Function Outcomes
A total of 144 patients with CF born between 1985 and 2000 met the inclusion criteria for comparison of lung function outcomes. There were no significant differences in terms of race, sex, genotype, age of diagnosis, prevalence of pancreatic enzyme supplementation, or prevalence of chronic S aureus infection between birth cohort 1 and birth cohort 2 (Table I). Significant differences were found between the 2 cohorts in the prevalence of chronic P aeruginosa infection (P = .002), the prevalence
Discussion
This longitudinal cohort analysis has demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the rate of decline in lung function in patients with CF. Studies analyzing the rate of decline in lung function in CF have yielded varied findings. Impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes have been associated with a faster decline in lung function.13, 14 Several studies, including ours, found an association between chronic P aeruginosa respiratory tract infection and a faster decline in lung function.
References (23)
- et al.
Longitudinal analysis of pulmonary function decline in patients with cystic fibrosis
J Pediatr
(1997) - et al.
Risk of death in cystic fibrosis patients with severely compromised lung function
Chest
(1998) - et al.
Physical growth: National Center for Health Statistics percentiles
Am J Clin Nutr
(1979) - et al.
A two-year randomized, placebo-controlled trial of dornase alpha in young patients with cystic fibrosis with mild lung function abnormalities
J Pediatr
(2001) - et al.
Longitudinal relationship among growth, nutritional status, and pulmonary function in children with cystic fibrosis: analysis of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation National CF Patient Registry
J Pediatr
(2000) - et al.
Growth and nutritional indexes in early life predict pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis
J Pediatr
(2003) - et al.
Prediction of mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis
N Engl J Med
(1992) - et al.
Predictive 5-year survivorship model of cystic fibrosis
Am J Epidemiol
(2001) Patient registry 2006: annual data report
- et al.
Improving rate of decline of FEV1 in young adults with cystic fibrosis
Thorax
(2006)
Identifying treatments that halt progression of pulmonary disease in cystic fibrosis
Pediatr Res
Cited by (0)
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. There was no sponsor involvement in the design of this study or in the preparation of this manuscript for publication.