A better life with cystic fibrosis

A new test has made earlier detection of pneumonia possible in children with cystic fibrosis (CF).

PhD candidate Suzanne Terheggen-Lagro discovered that the special white blood cells known as neutrophils respond differently in children with CF than in other children, even before there is any sign of pneumonia. This knowledge is useful because it means that CF patients can be treated with inhaled corticosteroids even in the very earliest stages of pneumonia. As a result, lung function remains good for a longer time – over a period of three years, lung function dropped 7.5 percent less than it normally would have in cases of cystic fibrosis. This outcome gives young children with CF hope for a better future.

Terheggen-Lagro received her PhD from Utrecht University on September 26. Her thesis is called 'Cystic fibrosis: a hereditary inflammatory process'.