TOPLINE

Pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who initiated elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI) therapy experienced more than a 60% reduction in antibiotic days per year.

METHODOLOGY

• A single-center, retrospective chart review was conducted at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
• A total of 139 pediatric patients aged 6-18 years (median age, 11 years; 99% White; 57% female) with CF who initiated ETI therapy were included.
• Patients served as their own controls, with antibiotic utilization compared before and after ETI initiation. Only systemic antibiotics used for respiratory infections were included.
• The primary outcome was antibiotic days per patient-year; secondary outcomes included changes in use of specific antibiotics, enteral vs intravenous therapy, and different antibiotic classes.

TAKEAWAY

• The median antibiotic days per patient-year decreased significantly from 17 days pre-ETI to 6 days post-ETI (P < .001).
• Both intravenous and enteral antibiotic use decreased significantly after ETI initiation (P < .001 for both).
• Use of IV vancomycin, linezolid and tedizolid, anti-methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) tetracyclines, other anti-MRSA medications (clindamycin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), aminoglycosides, anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa beta-lactams, and fluoroquinolones (all P < .001).
• No significant difference was found for carbapenems or non-anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa beta-lactams.

IN PRACTICE

"ETI therapy was associated with decreased antibiotic days for many therapeutic classes of both enteral and IV antibiotics," wrote the authors of the study.

SOURCE

The study was led by Julianne Fava, Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. It was published online on July 28 in Pediatric Pulmonology.

LIMITATIONS

The retrospective, single-center design limited causal inference and generalizability. Treatment adherence and interruptions were not accounted for.

DISCLOSURES

The study was supported by The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Cure CF Columbus Translational Core. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.