An observational study of the lung clearance index throughout childhood in cystic fibrosis: Early years matter.

The London Cystic Fibrosis Collaboration (LCFC) has prospectively followed a clinically diagnosed cohort of infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) born in South East England since 1999 [1–4]. Over the past twenty years, the LCFC has obtained comprehensive measures of lung function and structure, including measures of ventilation inhomogeneity (lung clearance index, LCI) and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of interest: Dr. Davies reports personal fees from Chiesi, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Dr. Duncan has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Wade has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Bossley has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Carr reports non-financial support and other from Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, other from Teva, non-financial support and other from Vertex, other from Zambon, other from Insmed, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Dr. Calder has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. GOUBAU has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Pao has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Lum has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Viviani has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Aurora reports grants from CF Trust (UK), during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Ms. Raywood has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Stocks has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Bush has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Owens has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Stanojevic has nothing to disclose.