Results:
249 spirometries with BD testing in 102 patients were completed around
day 7 (day 4-10) of hospital admission for treatment of CF PEx. Median
(IQR) forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was
70.6% predicted (58.1, 84.6) prior to the PEx event (best
FEV1 in 6 months prior to admission), 54.4% (41.5,
66.9) at admission, 62.3% (48.4, 74.7) around day 7 of admission and
67.1% predicted (53.8, 78.2) at end of treatment. BD response around
day 7 correlated poorly with FEV1 prior to PEx (r=-0.16,
p=0.02), and did not correlate with recovery to baseline
FEV1 at end of treatment (r=0.08, p=0.22). Only 23/249
(9%) patients had a BD response of ≥12 % and 200 ml. BD response was
not related to age or severity of lung disease and led to an immediate
change in clinical management in only 4 cases.
CONCLUSIONS :
BD response in CF patients treated for PEx is poorly correlated with
baseline pulmonary function and does not correlate with recovery of
FEV1 with treatment. These data suggest that routine
testing for BD response is not indicated during PEx.