Eradication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis

To the Editors: We read with interest the recently published article by Taccetti et al . 1 in the European Respiratory Journal and the accompanying editorial by Jones 2. Tacetti et al . 1 report on their experience with early eradication therapy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) in cystic fibrosis (CF), concluding that this treatment exerts a number of beneficial effects and is also cost-effective. However, as stated in the editorial 2, questions pertaining to many details of eradication therapy, such as the choice and combination of antibiotics, dosages and modes of delivery, and, in particular, the optimal duration of treatment remain as yet unanswered. We recently published the preliminary outcome of another eradication regimen against PA that had been introduced into the clinical routine of our centre in Graz (Austria) in 1999 3. A comparison of these two studies, both in terms of methodology and outcome, may shed some additional light on the previous questions. There are considerable major differences …