What type of treatment helps to improve the lung function of someone with cystic fibrosis?
The ongoing treatment of CF depends upon the stage of the disease and which organs are involved. Most patients with CF need airway clearance. One form of airway clearance, chest physical therapy, requires vigorous pounding with cupped hands on the back and chest to dislodge the thick mucus from the lungs. Other forms of airway clearance can be done with the help of mechanical devices used to stimulate mucus clearance. Antibiotics are often used to treat lung infections and are administered intravenously, via pills or with medicated vapors, which are inhaled.
Mucus-thinning drugs such as Pulmozyme are also available. And many patients take Tobramycin Inhalation Solution (TOBI) to treat chronic lung infections. This drug can help reduce the number of hospital stays a patient must endure. Azithromycin, a type of antibiotic, has been shown to be effective in improving the lung function of people with CF who are chronically infected with the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is also used to treat common bacterial infections, such as pneumonia and ear infections.
When should a patient consider a double lung transplant?
Deciding to have a double lung transplant is a very complex issue that revolves around how long the patient is expected to live without transplant versus the predicted outcome following lung transplant. Lung transplants have the worst outcomes of all solid organ transplants. There is approximately a 60 percent five-year survival rate for patients post-transplant.
The decision to have the transplant and the timing of the transplant is an individual decision that involves the patient, family and the CF care team at the transplant center.
