ELITE trial in cystic fibrosis

As Smyth informs in his editorial in this month's Thorax to the accompanying paper by Ratjen and colleagues, the most significant event in the life of a person with cystic fibrosis (CF) is the acquisition of chronic pulmonary infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However it is possible to eradicate P aeruginosa in early stages of infection before formation of biofilms and this is now usual clinical practice, though there have been few studies comparing eradication regimes. Ratjen and colleagues report the results of the ELITE trial where inhaled tobramycin was used for 28 days for early eradication, followed by randomisation to either stop therapy or have another 28 days of tobramycin. There was no difference in the primary or secondary outcomes with the 28 day …