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During 1991 to 1998 at least one Stenotrophomonas maltophilia pulmonary infection was observed in 25 (24%) of 104 cystic fibrosis patients at the same unit of our hospital in Spain. Ribotyping and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) characterization of 76 S. maltophilia isolates from these patients indicated an overall clonal incidence of 47.1%, reflecting new strains in 44% of patients with repeated positive cultures for S. maltophilia. Six patients with repeated episodes were persistently colonized (> or = 6 months) with the same strain. S. maltophilia bacterial counts were higher (geometric mean, 2.9 x 10(8) cfu/mL) in patients with repeated episodes than in those with a single episode (8.4 x 10(4) cfu/mL, p < 0.01). Single episodes of S. maltophilia occurred in patients < 10 years of age (43% [6/14]), whereas chronic colonization occurred more frequently in older patients (> 16 years of age). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several modifiable factors leading to poor asthma control have been described. We aimed to determine the proportion of patients with inadequate treatment, adherence to it, or critical mistakes with inhaler technique, and their impact on asthma control. We conducted a cross-sectional multicenter observational study including asthma patients referred from primary to specialist care for the first time. Data collected were adequate prescription according to guidelines, treatment adherence, and disease control. Of the 1682 patients (age 45 ± 17 years, 64.6% men), 35.9% showed inadequate prescription, 76.8% low adherence, and 17% critical mistakes with inhaler technique, with significantly less critical mistakes among Easyhaler users versus other dry powder inhaler users (10.3 versus 18.4%; p < 0.05). Factors related to bad asthma control were inadequate prescription (OR: 3.65), non-adherence to treatment (OR: 1.8), and inhaler misuse (OR: 3.03). A higher number of risk factors were associated with a higher probability of having badly controlled asthma.

Background: The most common cystic fibrosis (CF)-causing mutation is deltaF508 (F508del), which is present in 28% of CF Spanish patients. While the literature based on real-life studies on CF patients homozygous F508del treated with lumacaftor/ivacaftor is limited, it demonstrates the need for better strategies to prevent related adverse events (AEs) as well as the development of newer drugs., Methods: We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, observational study to describe the effects of lumacaftor/ivacaftor treatment in real-life in Spain. 20 CF patients were included, all aged 6 and upwards and presented with ppFEV1<40%, chosen from CF units country-wide. For the purposes of the study, they were treated with lumacaftor/ivacaftor 200/125mg two tablets twice a day on a compassionate use programme throughout 2016. The primary endpoint was measured in all of the sample patients. Data were analysed from ppFEV1 at baseline and was measured every 6 months., Results: The mean age was 26.65 (range of 10-45), while the mean ppFEV1 before the treatment was 32.4% and mean BMI was 19.9kg/m 2 . We analysed the changes in ppFEV1 and BMI from baseline during the treatment with lumacaftor/ivacaftor, but no differences were found. However, a moderate association between days of intravenous antibiotic needed and the use of lumacaftor/ivacaftor (p=0.001) was established. Indeed, under the lumacaftor/ivacaftor, patients required 5.8 days of intravenous antibiotic treatment compared to 14.9 days prior to study. Also, severe pulmonary exacerbations requiring hospitalisation were statistically fewer under lumacaftor/ivacaftor treatment (p=0.003). Finally, 75% of the sample presented with AEs, which led 35% of the subjects to discontinue the treatment., Conclusions: While treatment with lumacaftor/ivacaftor resulted in an improvement in the number of pulmonary severe exacerbations, no improvement in ppFEV1 or BMI was found., (Copyright © 2018 SEPAR. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Few studies have evaluated the coexistence of bronchiectasis (BE) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in series of patients diagnosed primarily with BE. The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with BE associated with COPD included in the Spanish Bronchiectasis Historical Registry and compare them to the remaining patients with non-cystic fibrosis BE., Methods: We conducted a multicentre observational study of historical cohorts, analysing the characteristics of 1,790 patients who had been included in the registry between 2002 and 2011. Of these, 158 (8.8%) were registered as BE related to COPD and were compared to the remaining patients with BE of other aetiologies., Results: Patients with COPD were mostly male, older, had a poorer respiratory function and more frequent exacerbations. There were no differences in the proportion of patients with chronic bronchial colonisation or in the isolated microorganisms. A significantly larger proportion of patients with COPD received treatment with bronchodilators, inhaled steroids and intravenous antibiotics, but there was no difference in the use of long term oral or inhaled antibiotherapy. During a follow-up period of 3.36 years, the overall proportion of deaths was 13.8%. When compared to the remaining aetiologies, patients with BE associated with COPD presented the highest mortality rate. The multivariate analysis showed that the diagnosis of COPD in a patient with BE as a primary diagnosis increased the risk of death by 1.77., Conclusion: Patients with BE related to COPD have the same microbiological characteristics as patients with BE due to other aetiologies. They receive treatment with long term oral and inhaled antibiotics aimed at controlling chronic bronchial colonisation, even though the current COPD treatment guidelines do not envisage this type of therapy. These patients' mortality is notably higher than that of remaining patients with non-cystic fibrosis BE.

The ability of antibiotics used in bronchopulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa early biofilm formation was studied using a biofilm microtitre assay with 57 non-mucoid P. aeruginosa isolates (44 first colonisers and 13 recovered during the initial intermittent colonisation stage) obtained from 35 CF patients. Minimum biofilm inhibitory concentrations (BICs) of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, ceftazidime, tobramycin, colistin and azithromycin were determined by placing a peg lid with a formed biofilm onto microplates containing antibiotics. A modification of this protocol consisting of antibiotic challenge during biofilm formation was implemented in order to determine the biofilm prevention concentration (BPC), i.e. the minimum concentration able to prevent biofilm formation. The lowest BPCs were for fluoroquinolones, tobramycin and colistin and the highest for ceftazidime and imipenem. The former antibiotics had BPCs identical to or only slightly higher than their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) determined by standard Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) microdilution and were also active on formed biofilms as reflected by their low BIC values. In contrast, ceftazidime and imipenem were less effective for prevention of biofilm formation and on formed biofilms. In conclusion, the new BPC parameter determined in non-mucoid P. aeruginosa isolates recovered during early colonisation stages in CF patients supports early aggressive antimicrobial treatment guidelines in first P. aeruginosa-colonised CF patients., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.)