Improving inpatient cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbation care: two success stories.

Background: Pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) in cystic fibrosis (CF) are a frequent cause of hospitalisations and lead to long-term decline in pulmonary function. Successful CF inpatient care requires the coordination of multiple providers and complex therapies. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (CHW) and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHoA) independently identified PEx inpatient care for focused improvements, with emphasis on improving care coordination and patient outcomes.

Chiari I malformation presenting as chronic cough.

We present a 9-month-old infant with persistent cough refractory to conventional asthma therapy. An extensive evaluation eventually revealed a Chiari I malformation with syringohydromyelia. His cough resolved one month after surgical decompression, suggesting that brainstem compression from the Chiari malformation directly caused his symptoms.

Decreased prevalence of asthma among farm-reared children compared with those who are rural but not farm-reared.

Background: Farm exposure has been associated with decreased asthma prevalence.

Objectives: We compared asthma prevalence among rural farm-reared and non-farm-reared children and examined farm demographic and environmental factors.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional, population-based survey among 36,500 rural kindergarten through 12th grade school children.