Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
randomized trial
Participants
5 CF subjects
Interventions
Serial maxillary sinus lavage, in accordance with published protocols, using tobramycin. Lavage was performed for up to 10 days
Outcome measures
sequential magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were taken at zero, 10, 30, 60, 120 and 180 days. The 30 MRI scans were blindly scored by two examiners on the parameters of maxillary sinus aeration, averaged over the five time intervals, was significantly improved (p < 0.05) in the lavaged sinus.
Main results
This study provides the first systematic image-based measure of efficacy of maxillary sinus aminoglycoside lavage, a major element of a number of clinical protocols used in the treatment of CF.
Authors' conclusions
The prolonged increase in aeration after lavage suggests that any further improvement potentially achievable after gene transfer would be difficult to detect, limiting the value of this system as a model of clinical efficacy of gene transfer in CF.