Is Early Diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis Beneficial?

To determine whether early diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF) had an impact on the severity of lung damage at ages 6 to 10 years, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation retrospectively reviewed patient data gathered by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation National Patient Registry on 3,625 children whose CF diagnosis was established by 36 months of age between 1982 and 1990 and who were followed regularly through childhood. Patients were categorized into 4 groups according to whether they were diagnosed before or after age 6 weeks and whether they were asymptomatic versus symptomatic at diagnosis. Asymptomatic diagnosis was defined as diagnosis by family history, genotype, prenatal diagnosis, or neonatal screening. …