Smoothing the transition from pediatric to adult care: lessons learned

Purpose of review As the expected survival improves for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), there is a growing population of adults with CF. There has long been widespread acceptance by key medical societies of the need to provide age-appropriate care for patients with chronic health conditions, such as CF, and yet the actual transition to adult care for many diseases has been slow to develop. Recent findings There has been recent success in the CF care network in the development of adult care programs with a key role played by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Although the number of adult programs has increased considerably, many of these programs remain somewhat tenuous. Summary No single method of transition of patients from a pediatric care program to an adult care program has proven to be best for all CF centers, yet there are key features of a transition program that are common to all. In this manuscript I focus on key lessons learned in the CF care model. The transition experience in CF can serve as a model for other chronic illnesses with onset in childhood and survival into adulthood.