THURSDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) -- A new set of practice guidelines for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, issued by the Pulmonary Therapies Committee of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, provides recommendations for or against more than a dozen drug therapies used in the maintenance of pulmonary function. The guidelines are published in the Nov. 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Patrick A. Flume, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, and colleagues reviewed and graded the treatments after systematic reviews of original research, modified systematic reviews, or existing Cochrane reviews. The committee made no recommendations for treatment of patients under 6 years of age due to insufficient data.
Treatments strongly recommended or recommended in some circumstances by the committee included inhaled tobramycin, dornase alfa, inhaled hypertonic saline, oral ibuprofen, azithromycin and inhaled beta2-adrenergic receptor agonists. The committee recommended against routine use of inhaled corticosteroids and against the prophylactic use of oral antistaphylococcal antibiotics. Oral corticosteroids were not recommended for treatment of patients aged 6 to 18. Insufficient evidence was found to make recommendations for or against the chronic use of leukotriene modifiers, cromolyn, inhaled bronchodilators or inhaled or oral N-acetylcysteine.
"The introduction and use of specific medications will depend on the individual patient, their social situation, and parental or patient preferences," the authors conclude.
Flume reports receiving lecture fees and research funding from both Novartis and Genentech.
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