Synopsis of Key Findings
This study examines the rates of lung function decline and pulmonary exacerbations in a cohort of CF patients who have undergone endoscopic sinus surgery as compared to a group of CF patients with CT or endoscopic findings of chronic rhinosinusitis but without endoscopic sinus surgery. Our study demonstrates 4 main findings: 1) non-surgical patients appear to have higher rates of pseudomonas airway colonization while surgical patients appear to have higher rates of MRSA colonization; surgical intervention does not appear to change bacterial colonization, 2) sinus surgery does not appear to significantly improve FEV-1% predicted post-operatively, 3) sinus surgery does not appear to significantly decrease number of pulmonary exacerbations post-operatively, and 4) sinus surgery appears to increase the total number of days hospitalized post-operatively.