Assessing effects of inhaled antibiotics in adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis - experiences from recent clinical trials.

The objective of this review is to provide an overview of NCFB and critically evaluate the evidence supporting the outcome measures used in recent clinical trials of inhaled antibiotics. These include quantitative changes in bacterial load, sputum purulence and yield, inflammatory markers, and lung function, as well as clinical changes in exacerbations, exacerbation frequency, hospitalizations, and health-related quality of life. Expert commentary: Recently completed large trials of inhaled antibiotics in NCFB did not consistently meet pre-specified endpoints, suggesting that we have not yet found the best enrollment criteria or outcome measures to evaluate efficacy, although reduced exacerbation frequency may be clinically most meaningful. Future trials may focus on specific patient populations at high risk with new information obtained through analyses of large international patient registries. PMID: 30025482 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: Expert Rev Respir Med Source Type: research