PG4 - Paediatric respiratory medicine: cystic fibrosis – the basics

Postgraduate Course
Chairs: R. Hamutcu (Istanbul, Turkey), S. Elborn (Belfast, United Kingdom)
Aims: This is the second course in a three-year postgraduate core curriculum covering the main issues in paediatric respiratory medicine. This module addresses cystic fibrosis, the commonest inherited respiratory disease in Europe. There have been fundamental advances in treatment, but standards of care are patchy across Europe. This course will give an overview of the basics of CF to meet the needs of those with relatively small CF clinics and to lay the foundations of knowledge necessary to get the most out of the ERS School CF course. At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
• understand the fundamental biology of the airway, and its relevance to cystic fibrosis (CF);
• understand the various methods of diagnosing CF;
• understand the various features of CF lung disease and how these affect lung function;
• appreciate the extended disease spectrum of CF;
• diagnose and treat the respiratory and multisystem complications of CF.

Cystic fibrosis lung disease: from molecular defect to abnormal mucocilliary clearance F. Ratjen (Toronto, Canada)
How to make the diagnosis: the easy one, the difficult one C. Castellani (Verona, Italy)
Respiratory problems in CF H. Tiddens (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
The new CF: a multisystem disorder S. Elborn (Belfast, United Kingdom)