S tudies of infants identified by newborn screening for cystic fibrosis have shownthat the pulmonary diseases start early, prior to the development of clinical symp-toms. In this issue of The Journal, Stick et al from the Australian Respiratory Early Sur-veillance Team for Cystic Fibrosis (AREST CF) have studied bronchiectasis in youngchildren with cystic fibrosis diagnosed by newborn screening. They found a prevalenceof 22% which increased with age, so current treatment of infants with cystic fibrosisdoes not always prevent the development of permanent pulmonary sequalae. Theauthors propose that bronchiectasis would be a clinically relevant endpoint for future
intervention trials in infants with cystic fibrosis.