Mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A sign of cystic fibrosis in young adults with chronic pulmonary disease?.

Two adult patients with cystic fibrosis had late onset of symptoms with 
principal involvement only of the lungs. The absence of other typical 
features of cystic fibrosis confused the diagnosis. Recovery of mucoid Pseudomonas 
aeruginosa from sputum cultures helped to establish the diagnosis in these 
patients, because these mucoid isolates are rarely obtained from subjects who 
do not have cystic fibrosis. Recent findings, which have identified the 
mucoid isolates as predominantly a single strain of P aeruginosa and 
have documented its widespread carriage in the United States by patients 
with cystic fibrosis, point to an interesting epidemiologic relationship between this 
bacterium and this disease. 