Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Effectiveness and Safety of Intermittent Antimicrobial Therapy for the Treatment of New Onset Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Airway Infection in Young Patients With Cystic Fibrosis
Brief Summary: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic disease that significantly affects an individual's lung function. Antibiotic medications have been proven effective at reducing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infection, which is one of the main causes of death in individuals with CF. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of treatment based on quarterly culture results versus consistent quarterly antibiotic treatment at reducing PA infection in children with CF.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* CF as diagnosed by:

  1. Documented sweat chloride greater than or equal to 60 mEq/L by quantitative pilocarpine iontophoresis test; or
  2. Two well-characterized genetic mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene; or
  3. Abnormal nasal potential difference with accompanying symptoms characteristic of CF.
* PA present in expectorated sputum or throat swab culture at Screening.
* Participants must have received three or more courses of TIS within the previous 12 months.
* Participants on chronic azithromycin must have had no change in regimen in the previous 3 months and must have had a need for TIS and/or additional antipseudomonal therapy since initiation of azithromycin.
* Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) between (and including) 25% and 75% predicted at Screening.
* Ability to perform reproducible pulmonary function tests.
* Arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) greater than or equal to 90% on room air at Screening.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Current use of oral corticosteroids in doses exceeding the equivalent of 10 mg prednisone a day or 20 mg prednisone every other day.
* History of sputum or throat culture swab yielding Burkholderia cepacia in the past 2 years.
* History of daily continuous oxygen supplementation or requirement for more than 2 liters/minute at night.
* Administration of any investigational drug or device within 28 days of Screening (Visit 1) or within 6 half-lives of the investigational drug (whichever was longer).
* Known local or systemic hypersensitivity to monobactam antibiotics.
* Inability to tolerate inhalation of a short acting Beta-2 agonist.
* Changes in antimicrobial, bronchodilator, anti-inflammatory, or corticosteroid medications within 7 days before Screening or between Screening and the next visit.
* Changes in physiotherapy technique or schedule within 7 days before Screening or between Screening and the next visit.
* History of lung transplantation.
* A chest X-ray indicating abnormal findings at Screening or within the previous 90 days.
* Abnormal renal or hepatic function or serum chemistry at Screening (aspartate aminotransferase \[AST\], alanine aminotransferase \[ALT\] greater than 5 times the upper limit of normal range; Creatinine greater than 2 times the upper limit of normal range).
* Positive pregnancy test at Screening.
* Female of childbearing potential who was lactating or in the opinion of the investigator was not practicing acceptable birth control.
* Any serious or active medical or psychiatric illness, which in the opinion of the investigator would have interfered with participant treatment, assessment, or compliance with the protocol.
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of CF, as determined by the 1997 CF Consensus Conference criteria: sweat chloride level greater than 60 milliequivalent/liter (mEq/L) by quantitative pilocarpine iontophoresis; or a genotype with two identifiable mutations consistent with CF; or an abnormal nasal transepithelial potential difference and one or more clinical features consistent with CF
* For participants greater than 15 months of age: documented new onset of positive oropharyngeal, sputum, or lower respiratory tract culture for PA within 6 months of study entry, defined as either: 1) first lifetime documented PA positive culture; or 2) PA recovered after at least a 2-year history of PA negative respiratory cultures (at least one culture per year)
* For participants 12-15 months of age: at least one documented positive oropharyngeal, sputum, or lower respiratory tract culture for PA since birth or CF diagnosis
* Clinically stable with no evidence of any significant respiratory symptoms or chest radiograph findings at screening that would require administration of intravenous anti-pseudomonal antibiotics, oxygen supplementation, or hospitalization

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of aminoglycoside hypersensitivity or adverse reaction to inhaled aminoglycoside
* History of hypersensitivity or adverse reaction to ciprofloxacin or other fluoroquinolone medications
* History of persistent, unresolved hearing loss documented by audiometric testing on at least two occasions and not associated with middle ear disease or an abnormal tympanogram
* Abnormal kidney function at study entry (defined as a serum creatinine level greater than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal for participant's age)
* Abnormal liver function test results at study entry (defined as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels greater than two times the upper limit of normal range)
* Use of any investigational drug within 30 days of study entry
* Use of loop diuretics, phenytoin, warfarin, theophylline, or other methylxanthines within 30 days of study entry
* Use of more than one course of intravenous anti-pseudomonal antibiotics (at least 10 continuous days of medication use) or more than one course of inhaled anti-pseudomonal antibiotics (at least 28 continuous days of medication use) within 2 years of study entry; intravenous or inhaled anti-pseudomonal antibiotics must be stopped at least 30 days prior to study entry
* Chronic macrolide use (more than 90 day duration) in the 3 months prior to study entry
* Presence of a condition or abnormality that would compromise the participant's safety or the quality of the study data, in the opinion of the investigator
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients of either sex aged ≥ 6;
* Clinical diagnosis of cystic fibrosis defined as: (1)Patients preferably registered in the National Registry of CF (or other documents depending on country legislation); (2) Evidence of two or more typical pulmonary clinical features observed in CF, e.g., persistent colonization/infection with typical CF pathogens, chronic cough and sputum production, persistent chest radiography abnormalities, airway obstruction, nasal polyps and/or digital clubbing;
* Positive response in the standard sweat test (sweat chloride concentration ≥ 60 mmol/l for the standard method or ≥ 80 mmol/L for a microduct technique) documented in the clinical records and/or gene mutation documented in the clinical records;
* Chronic colonization of P. aeruginosa: presence in a sputum or throat culture of a minimum of 2 positive samples for P. aeruginosa over the previous 12 months and/or presence of more than two precipitating antibodies against P. aeruginosa;
* Sputum containing P. aeruginosa susceptible to tobramycin (defined as a zone diameter ≥ 16 mm after testing with 10 µg tobramycin disk or as a minimal inhibition concentration based on microdilution testing system) as identified by local laboratory at screening visit;
* Forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV₁) ≥ 40% and ≤ 80% of the predicted normal value;
* Written informed consent obtained by parents/legal representative according to local regulations) and by the patient (when appropriate).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Administration of antipseudomonal antibiotic therapy by any route in the previous 4 weeks;
* Evidence of impaired renal function (serum creatinine level ≥ 1.5 mg/dl);
* Evidence of impaired auditory function (auditory threshold in either ear above 20 dB at frequencies between 250 and 8000Hz);
* Sputum culture containing Burkholderia cepacia;
* Patients with end-stage lung disease, candidates for heart-lung transplantation;
* History of other clinically significant cardiac, renal, neurological, gastrointestinal, hepatic or endocrine disease related to cystic fibrosis, whose sequelae and/or treatment can interfere with the results of the present study;
* Female subjects: pregnant or with active desire to be pregnant, lactating mother or lack of efficient contraception in a subject with child-bearing potential (i.e., contraceptive methods other than rod containing a hormone that prevents user from getting pregnant and that will be placed under the skin, syringes that contain a contraceptive hormone, combined birth control pill, i.e., such that contains two hormones, some intrauterine devices (IUDs) and sexual abstinence). A pregnancy test in urine is to be carried out in women of a fertile age at screening and at the last clinic visit;
* Known hypersensitivity to aminoglycosides;
* Patients with evidence of alcohol or drug abuse, likely to be not compliant with the study protocol or likely to be not compliant with the study treatments;
* Participation in another clinical trial with an investigational drug in the four weeks preceding the screening visit.
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Confirmed diagnosis of CF
* Presence of PA in 2 lower respiratory tract cultures in the 12 months prior to screening
* Forced expiratory volume (FEV)1 ≥ 25 and ≤ 75% predicted
* History of 1 hospitalization or 1 course of IV antibiotics for an acute respiratory exacerbation in the 12 months prior to screening

Exclusion Criteria:

* Concurrent use of oral, IV or inhaled antibiotics at enrollment
* Concurrent hospitalization at enrollment
* History of local or systemic hypersensitivity to monobactams or aminoglycoside antibiotics or history of aminoglycoside antibiotic associated toxicity

Answer: B