In patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) listed for lung transplantation (LT), a frailty index based on standard multidisciplinary lung transplant assessment data facilitates patient risk stratification.
Results of a 2-pronged study that developed and validated this frailty index were published in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.
There is a need for predictors of survival for patients with CF listed for LT, study authors noted. Thus, a frailty index specific to CF that counts health deficits such as laboratory values, comorbidities, disabilities, and symptoms can be advantageous. Researchers therefore sought to construct a CF-specific deficit accumulation/frailty index for adverse waitlist and post-LT outcome risk stratification.
The investigators conducted a retrospective study involving 2 cohorts: a development cohort of patients on the waitlist at the Toronto LT Program (which includes Toronto General Hospital and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada) from 2005 to 2015; and a validation cohort of patients on the waitlist at Swiss LT centers (Zurich University Hospital, Lausanne University Hospital, and Geneva University Hospitals) from 2008 to 2017. Read more here.
Certain M. abscessus Variants Linked to CF Lung Infections
The clinical outcome of lung infection with Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is associated with genetic differences in the bacterium strains, according to a recent study.
The study identified virulence factors related to disease severity, and sheds light on the development of novel and more effective treatments for lung infections caused by M. abscessus.
“This is the first study to define the genetic changes in clinical strains of Mycobacterium abscessus that are responsible for increased virulence and worse health outcomes,” Andres Floto, PhD, director of the UK CF Innovation Hub, said. Read more here.
