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Objective: We evaluated the prevalence, Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene profile, clinical data, management and outcome for infants with a CFTR-related metabolic syndrome/CF Screen Positive, Inconclusive Diagnosis (CRMS/CFSPID) designation from six Italian centres., Methods: All newborn bloodspot screening (NBS) positive infants born from January 2011 to August 2018 with a CF diagnosis or a CRMS/CFSPID designation were enrolled. Data on sweat testing, genetics, clinical course and management were collected., Results: We enrolled 257 CF patientsand 336 infants with a CRMS/CFSPID designation (CF: CRMS/CFSPID ratio of 1:1.30).Blood immuno-reactive trypsinogen (IRT) was significantly lower in CRMS/CFSPID infants and the F508del variant accounted for only 20% of alleles. Children with CRMS/CFSPID showed a milder clinical course, pancreatic sufficiency compared to CF infants. Varied practice across centres was identified regarding sweat testing, chest radiograph (8-100%) and salt supplementation (11-90%). Eighteen (5.3%) CRMS/CFSPID infants converted or were reclassified to diagnosis of CF. Four infants (1.3%) developed a clinical feature consistent with a CFTR-related disorder (1.2%). Twenty-seven were re-classified as healthy carriers (8.0%) and 16 as healthy infants (4.8%)., Conclusions: We have identified considerable variability in the evaluation and management of infants with an inconclusive diagnosis following NBS across six Italian centres. CRMS/CFSPID is more regularly seen in this population compared to countries with higher prevalence of F508del.Conversion to a CF diagnosis was recorded in 18 (5.3%) of CRMS/CFSPID infants and in 16 was as a result of increasing sweat chloride concentration., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest and no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 European Cystic Fibrosis Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening disease affecting about 1:3000 newborns in Caucasian populations. The introduction of newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF NBS) has improved the clinical outcomes of individuals with CF through early diagnosis and early treatment. NBS strategies have been implemented over time. CF NBS was introduced extensively in 1984 in Tuscany, a region with 3.7 million people, characterized by a high allelic heterogeneity of CFTR gene., Aim and Methods: The aim of the study is to present the results from 34 years (1984-2018) of CF NBS, retrospectively evaluating the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the tests. In particular, we studied the impact of the introduction of DNA molecular analysis in NBS in a region with high allelic heterogeneity, such as Tuscany., Results: Over these 34 years, 919,520 neonates were screened, using four different NBS strategies. From 1984 to 1991, CF NBS was performed by the determination of albumin on dried meconium (sensitivity 68.75%; specificity 99.82%). Subsequently, the analysis of immunoreactive trypsinogen on a blood spot was adopted as CF NBS protocol (sensitivity 83.33%; specificity 99.77%). From 1992 to 2010, this strategy was associated with lactase meconium dosage: IRT1/IRT2 + LACT protocol (sensitivity 87.50%; specificity 99.82%). From 2011, when the existing algorithm was integrated by analysis of CF causing variants of the CFTR gene (IRT1/IRT2 + LACT + IRT1/DNA protocol), a substantial improvement in sensitivity was seen (senisitivity 96.15%; specificity 99.75%). Other improved parameters with DNA analysis in the NBS programme, compared with the previous method, were the diagnosis time (52 days vs. 38 days) and the recall rate (0.58 to 0.38%)., Conclusion: The inclusion of DNA analysis in the NBS was a fundamental step in improving sensitivity, even in a region with high allelic variability.

Objective: The implementation of cystic fibrosis (CF) newborn screening (NBS) has led to identification of infants with a positive NBS test but inconclusive diagnosis classified as "CF screen positive, inconclusive diagnosis" (CFSPID). We retrospectively evaluated the prevalence and clinical outcome of CFSPID infants diagnosed by 2 NBS algorithms in the period from 2011 to 2016 in the Tuscany region of Italy., Methods: In 2011-2016, we assessed the diagnostic impact of DNA analysis on the NBS 4-tier algorithm [immunoreactive trypsin (IRT) - meconium lactase - IRT2 - sweat chloride (SC)]. All CFSPID patients repeated SC testing every 6 months, and CFTR gene analysis was performed (detection rate 98%). We reclassified children as: CF diagnosis in presence of at least 2 pathological SC results; healthy carrier or healthy in presence of at least 2 normal SC results for age and either 1 or 0 CF-causing mutations, respectively., Results: We identified 32 CF and 50 CFSPID cases: 20/50 (40%) were diagnosed only by the IRT-DNA-SC algorithm and 16/50 (32%) only by IRT-meconium lactase-IRT2-SC. Both protocols identified the remaining 14 cases (28%). Thirty-seven of 50 (74%) CFSPID patients had a conclusive diagnosis on December 31, 2017:5 (10%) CF, 17 (34%) healthy and 15 (30%) healthy carriers; 13/50 (26%) cases were asymptomatic with persistent intermediate SC and followed as CFSPID (CF:CFSPID ratio 2.85:1)., Conclusions: In 6 years, the CF:CFSPID ratio modified from 0.64:1 to 2.85:1, and 10% of CFSPID cases progressed to CF. Genetic analysis improved positive predictive value and identified a higher number of CFSPID infants progressing to CF., (Copyright © 2019 European Cystic Fibrosis Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Few studies, based on a limited number of patients using non-uniform therapeutic protocols, have analyzed Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) eradication., Methods: In a randomized multicenter trial conducted on patients with new-onset MRSA infection we evaluated the efficacy of an early eradication treatment (arm A) compared with an observational group (B). Arm A received oral rifampicin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (21 days). Patients' microbiological status, FEV1, BMI, pulmonary exacerbations and use of antibiotics were assessed., Results: Sixty-one patients were randomized. Twenty-nine (47.5%) patients were assigned to active arm A and 32 (52.5%) patients to observational arm B. Twenty-nine (47.5%) patients, 10 patients in arm A and 19 in arm B, dropped out of the study. At 6 months MRSA was eradicated in 12 (63.2%) out of 19 patients in arm A while spontaneous clearance was observed in 5 (38.5%) out of 13 patients in arm B. A per-protocol analysis showed a 24.7% difference in the proportion of MRSA clearance between the two groups (z = 1.37, P(Z>z) = 0.08). Twenty-seven patients, 15 (78.9%) out of 19 in arm A and 12 (92.3%) out of 13 in arm B, were able to perform spirometry. The mean (±SD) FEV1 change from baseline was 7.13% (±14.92) in arm A and -1.16% (±5.25) in arm B (p = 0.08). In the same period the BMI change (mean ±SD) from baseline was 0.54 (±1.33) kg/m2 in arm A and -0.38 (±1.56) kg/m2 in arm B (p = 0.08). At 6 months no statistically significant differences regarding the number of pulmonary exacerbations, days spent in hospital and use of antibiotics were observed between the two arms., Conclusions: Although the statistical power of the study is limited, we found a 24.7% higher clearance of MRSA in the active arm than in the observational arm at 6 months. Patients in the active arm A also had favorable FEV1 and BMI tendencies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The aim of cystic fibrosis (CF) care is to improve both the life expectancy and quality of life of patients. However, rising costs and limited resources of health services must be taken into account. There are many different antibiotic strategies for therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in CF patients. In this 5-year retrospective study we found that the cost of treatment of initial infection is considerably lower than the cost of treating chronic P. aeruginosa infections. The percentage distribution of costs of antibiotic treatment in relationship to the administration route was considerably different between outpatients and inpatients. We observed an increase in antibiotic costs with the age of the patient and the decrease in FEV(1)values. The implementation of early eradication treatment, in addition to decreasing the prevalence of patients chronically infected by P. aeruginosa, might also bring about a notable decrease in costs.