Impact of eradication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on survival in Mexican patients with cystic fibrosis

Introduction. Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) present lower airway infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Treatment of initial infection is fundamental to reduce subsequent damage. Material and methods. We evaluated the efficacy of eradication treatment of P. aeruginosa in patients with CF from northeast Mexico using two protocols: inhaled coils-tin/oral ciprofloxacin and nebulized tobramycin 300 mg/oral ciprofloxacin. The intervention group included 17 patients with CF and recent infection with P. aeruginosa. The control group consisted of 23 chronically colonized patients of comparable age. Results. Patients received 27 courses of eradication treatment. P. aeruginosa was eradicated in 21/27 (77.77%). The infection free period was 16.9 +/- 11.7 months (colistin) and 17 +/- 9.7 months (tobramycin) with no statistically significant difference (P = 0.97). Conclusions. Treated patients maintained normal lung function, better nutritional status, and a better chest X-ray score. In the control group 17/23 (73.9%) patients died with no deaths in the study group.