D. Dogru Ersoz

21 Long term azithromycin therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis

Objective Inflammation is a central contributor to the pathogenesis of CF pulmonary disease. Azithromycin(AZM) has anti-inflammatory properties and immunomodulatory effects limiting the excessive production of inflammatory mediators that may be beneficial in CF. Here we aimed to document the long term use of AZM effect on pulmonary function, nutritional status and number of pulmonary exacerbations in patients with CF. Method: 24 children with CF aged 4–23 years enrolled the study from 630 CF patients. Pulmonary function parameters, sputum cultures, body mass index(BMI) Z scores and number of pulmonary exacerbations were analyzed at different time intervals. Results 24 patients were started on AZM from the total of 146 patients as having chronic P. aeruginosa colonization. Median age of patients was 14.7 years and median treatment duration was 14 months(6–60 months). At the end of the 6th, 9th and 12th months of the AZM therapy; no significant differences in FEV1% and oxygen saturation parameters were found compared to the initial time, however BMI Z scores increased significantly (p = 0.03), also the number of pulmonary exacerbations (p Conclusion Although, this study could not to be designed as placebo controlled study, the results showed that at least 6 months AZM treatment led to a significiant reduction in the number of pulmonary exacerbations requiring antibiotics and improvement on nutritional status. Therefore long term use of AZM may be considered to slow pulmonary deterioration in CF patients with P. aeruginosa colonization.