Role of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolation in patients with non-CF bronchiectasis.

INTRODUCTION: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a bacteria whose role in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis has been previously studied; little is known about its role in non-CF bronchiectasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aim of our study is to investigate the risk factors for S. maltophilia acquisition and its clinical impact on bronchiectasis patients. A retrospective observational cohort study enrolling patients attending the Bronchiectasis Clinic at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. A total of 167 bronchiectasis patients undergoing intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy were selected and divided according to single or chronic S. maltophilia isolation in sputum. The risk factors and prognostic impact were studied. RESULTS: Single isolation was independently associated with lower baseline % predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s [odds ratio (OR) 0.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.970-1.044; P = 0.025] and with less radiological involvement (OR 0.379; 95% CI 0.175-0.819; P = 0.01). Chronic isolation was associated with the number of IV antibiotic courses in the year before and after the first isolation (OR 1.2; 95% CI 1.053-1.398; P = 0.007) and with the absence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization (OR 0.207; 95% CI 0.056-0.764; P = 0.02). In the chronic isolation group, there were more exacerbations and more need of IV antibiotics in the year after the first isolation. CONCLUSIONS: Poor lung function is the main independent risk factor for single isolation of S. maltophilia. For chronic colonization, the main independent risk factor is the number of IV antibiotic courses and the absence of P. aeruginosa chronic colonization. Only when chronically present, S. maltophilia had a clinical impact with more exacerbations.

Long-term management of IPF with pirfenidone - a clinical case study with 5 years follow-up.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressively fibrotic interstitial lung disease that is associated with a median survival of 2-5 years from initial diagnosis. To date, the search for an effective treatment has involved numerous clinical trials of investigational agents but without significant success. Nevertheless, research over the past 10 years has provided us with a wealth of information on its histopathology, diagnostic work-up, and a greater understanding of its pathophysiology. Specifically, IPF is no longer thought to be a predominantly pro-inflammatory disorder. Rather, the fibrosis in IPF is increasingly understood to be the result of a fibroproliferative and aberrant wound healing cascade. The development of therapeutic targets has therefore shifted in accordance with this paradigm change. Emerging clinical data from recently published and ongoing trials investigating new potential pharmacological agents should be considered in the routine clinical management of these patients. Based upon encouraging results from randomised-controlled trials showing a positive effect in slowing decline in pulmonary function and reducing disease progression, pirfenidone was approved in 2011 as the first treatment in patients with IPF. This case study describes the clinical course of a patient enrolled into the Phase III and open-label extension studies of pirfenidone.