Role Of Inhaled Mannitol On Lung Function And Health Status Of Stable Cystic Fibrosis Patients
Introduction Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal-recessive genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas, sweat glands other epithelium-lined organs. When CF was first described in 1938, survival past infancy was rare.1 Improved treatments for lung infection and other complications increased the median survival to 33.4 years by 2001. Adult (18 years and older) now account for 39.6% of CF patients in United States.2 CF is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene that acts as a Cl- channel and as a regulator of epithelial Na+ channels and other Cl- channels.3 In the lung this