Health Related Quality of Life in Indian Children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Objective: This study was devised to translate Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised to Hindi and administer it to Indian children and adolescents diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: This study was carried out in cystic fibrosis patients attending Pediatric Chest Clinic of a tertiary-care hospital in Northern India from July 2012 to December 2012. Participants: 45 children (6-13 years) and their parents, and 14 adolescents. Patients with unstable health in the past two weeks were excluded. Intervention: Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire- Revised translated in Hindi was administered. Clinical evaluation and scoring, throat swab cultures and spirometry were also done during the same visit. Main Outcome Measures: Health Related Quality of Life scores were the primary measures, and clinical scores, swab cultures and spirometry were secondary measures. Results: Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.020-0.863.The Factor analysis indicated that most test-items correlated more with competing scales than the intended scales. Convergence between self and proxy-rating was found to be dependent on the domain. The Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire- Revised scores correlated well with clinical scores (r=0.65,P=0.011), Pseudomonas spp culture data and pulmonary function tests. There was an inverse relation between Health Related Quality of Life scores and age at diagnosis (r=-0.339, P=0.02). Conclusions: Hindi versions of Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire- Revised: Child, Adolescent and Parents’ instruments will act as an important step towards data on Health Related Quality of Life of Indian patients with cystic fibrosis.

Slower Rise of Exhaled Breath Temperature in Cystic Fibrosis.

Objective: To measure exhaled breath temperature in patients with cystic fibrosis. Methods: 17 patients (6-18 years) with cystic fibrosis and 15 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were recruited in this cross sectional study. Exhaled breath temperature was measured in subjects recruited in both the groups with a device X-halo and analyzed as plateau temperature achieved and rate of temperature rise. Results: Patients with cystic fibrosis showed no significant difference in plateau temperature [34.4(32.3-34.6) versus 33.9 (33.0- 34.4)oC; P=0.35] while mean (SEM.) rate of temperature rise was significantly less in patients [0.09 (0.01) versus 0.14 (0.02) ΔºC/s ; P=0.04] as compared to controls. Conclusion: There was a slower rise of exhaled breath temperature in patients with cystic fibrosis whereas plateau temperature was not significantly different from controls.

Invasive Aspergillosis in an Immunocompetent Host

Invasive aspergillosis is a disease known to manifest in immunocompromised hosts. It is a opportunistic disease which spreads by air and occurs predominantly in lungs, although dissemination to virtually any organ is possible. We report an unusual case of invasive aspergillosis with invasion of lung, lymph nodes and esophagus without having any apparent immunodeficient state.