Mucociliary clearance in cystic fibrosis.

If we are to fully understand the factors which control mucociliary clearance 
throughout the human lung and the interrelationships between clearance and disease, 
it will be necessary to measure mucociliary clearance rates in airways 
at all levels within the lung. During the past few years, 
technical means have been sought whereby the rates of mucus clearance 
within individual airways can be measured. In this laboratory, we have 
developed a relatively noninvasive technique for measuring mucociliary tracheal transport rates. 
We measured MTTRs in 20 patients with cystic fibrosis. The MTTRs 
did not correlate well with the degree of pulmonary disease in 
these patients. The measurements of MTTR would suggest that a deranged 
mucociliary clearance mechanism is not a necessary condition for patients with 
CF. We have also been interested in evaluating the effectiveness of 
the therapy used in the treatment of CF. 