The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics · Published 2026-06-30 · DOI 10.24953/turkjpediatr.2026.7593
Ece Ocak, Güzin Cinel, Gökçen Dilşa Tuğcu, Sanem Eryılmaz Polat, Dilber Ademhan Tural, Beste Özsezen, Ebru Yalçın, Nural Kiper, Velat Şen, Hadice Selimoğlu Şen, Derya Ufuk Altıntaş, Ayşe Ayzıt Kılınç, Haluk Çokuğraş, Hakan Yazan, Gokçen Ünal, Aslı İmran Yılmaz, Ilim Irmak, Ebru Damadoğlu, Gökçen Kartal Öztürk, Esen Demir, Erdem Başaran, Ayşen Bingöl, Nihat Sapan, Yakup Canıtez, Pelin Asfuroğlu, Ayşe Tana Aslan, Koray Harmancı, Melih Hangül, Mehmet Köse, Ali Özdemir, Gizem Özcan, Nazan Çobanoğlu, Zeynep Gökçe Gayretli Aydın, Özlem Keskin, Hasan Yüksel, Şebnem Özdoğan, Erdem Topal, Gönül Çaltepe, Demet Can, Pervin Korkmaz, Mehmet Kılıç, Tuğba Şişmanlar Eyüboğlu, Sevgi Pekcan, Erkan Çakır, Nagehan Emiralioğlu, Uğur Özçelik, Deniz Doğru
Background. Respiratory colonization with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. This study aims to assess the clinical characteristics and associated factors of CF infants under two years of age with P. aeruginosa colonization in Türkiye. Method. Of the 1637 patients registered in the Cystic Fibrosis Registry of Türkiye in 2019, 284 patients under two years of age were included in this retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients were classified into two groups: those with P. aeruginosa colonization (Group 1) and those without (Group 2). Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene functions were categorized according to CFTR mutation functional class. Results. Twenty-three patients (8.1%) were categorized as Group 1 and 262 participants (91.9%) were classified as Group 2. Infants with P. aeruginosa colonization (Group 1) were more likely to have minimal CFTR function compared with those without colonization (87% vs. 39.8%, p = 0.017). In addition, both Staphylococcus aureus colonization (47.8% vs. 7.3%, p < 0.001) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus positivity (17.4% vs. 6.1%, p = 0.042) were observed more commonly in Group 1. There were no statistical differences between the groups in terms of age at diagnosis, gender, mean z-scores of weight and height, newborn screening test positivity, sweat chloride test results, and pancreatic insufficiency (p > 0.05). Univariate logistic regression analysis did not identify significant associated factors for P. aeruginosa colonization. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that minimal CFTR function and S. aureus colonization are associated with P. aeruginosa colonization in CF patients under two years of age. Further studies are needed to investigate associated factors for early P. aeruginosa colonization, eradication treatment effectiveness, and longitudinal outcomes of in CF patients under two years of age.
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Ocak, E., Cinel, G., Tuğcu, G., et al. (2026). Clinical features associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization in children under 2 years of age: a retrospective study of Cystic Fibrosis Registry. The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.24953/turkjpediatr.2026.7593