Loading...
Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) commonly are treated with daily azithromycin to prevent exacerbations. Although many clinicians extrapolate this approach to all patients with bronchiectasis, its effects have not been studied rigorously in non-CF populations. In a pair of randomized trials, researchers addressed this issue.
In one study, 83 patients received either once-daily azithromycin (250 mg) or placebo. During the 1-year study, 80% of placebo patients experienced exacerbations, compared with only 47% of azithromycin patients (number needed to treat, 3). A similar effect was seen in another study, in which 117 patients were randomized to receive twice-daily erythromycin (400 mg) or placebo for 1 year. Mean annual rate of exacerbations…