WS04.5 Vitamin D influence on respiratory exacerbations and hospitalizations in cystic fibrosis patients

Objectives Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is highly associated with vitamin D deficiency. In April 2012, a guidelines-committee of The CF Foundation published new guidelines for screening, diagnosis, management and treatment of vitamin D deficiency in individuals with CF. The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of the new guidelines, as well as to test the correlations between vitamin D levels and pulmonary function and exacerbations. Methods Growth parameters, pulmonary function tests, liver functions tests and serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were measured in 90 patients from The CF Clinic at Hadassah Mount-Scopus Hospital, Jerusalem. The measurements were held both before changing vitamin D dosage and after at least one year of follow-up. In addition, Days Of Hospitalization (DOH) and Respiratory Exacerbations (RE) were counted and an average per year (DOHA and REA, respectively) was calculated. Results The mean serum concentration of vitamin D at baseline was 20.97 ng/ml compared to 25.41 ng/ml at the end of follow-up (p Conclusion The new guidelines for management of vitamin D deficiency appear to improve vitamin D levels in patients with CF. Improvement in vitamin D levels in individuals with CF appears to decrease both respiratory exacerbations and number of days of hospitalization per year.