Chest radiographs for outcome assessment in cystic fibrosis.

We compare a chest radiographic scoring system developed by our group to spirometry in quantifying the longitudinal progression of lung disease among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and we evaluate the use of this radiographic scoring system in identifying the treatment effect of an inhaled antibiotic. Results suggest that longitudinally acquired chest radiographs, when scored using our scoring system, are at least as sensitive as lung function in detecting the progression of lung disease in CF patients.