1569-1993/$ see front matter D 2005 European Cystic Fibrosis Society. Publish doi:10.1016/j.jcf.2004.12.002 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 2 5844430; fax: +972 2 5844427. E-mail address: ek@cc.huji.ac.il (E. Kerem). 1 Celeste Barreto, Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal; Diana Bilton, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Andrew Bush, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK; Preston Campbell, US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Bethesda, USA; Carlo Castellani, Azienda Ospedaliera, Verona, Italy; Nicolas Cobos, Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; Carla Colombo, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Steven Conway, Seacroft Hospital, Leeds, UK; Diana Constantini, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Christiane De Boeck, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium; Jane De vries, Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands; Alistair Duff, St. James University Hospital, Leeds, UK; Gerd Dfring, University of Tqbingen, Germany; Stuart Elborn, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, UK; Silvia Gartner, Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; Manfred Gftz, Wilhelmininspital, Vienna, Austria; Harry Heijerman, Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands; Lena Hjelte, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Dominique Hubert, Hopital Cochin, Paris, France; Niels Hbiby, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Marie Johannesson, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden; Nataliya Kashirskaya, Research Center for Medical Genetics RAMS, Moscow, Russia; Eitan Kerem, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel; Jim Littlewood, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Bromely, UK; Sue Madge, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK; Bruce Marshall, US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Bethesda, USA; Gerry McElvaney, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Alison Morton, Seacroft Hospital, Leeds, UK; Anne Munck, Hopital Robert Debre, Paris, France; Sanda NousiaArvanitakis, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece; Veronika Skalicka, Unitversity Hospital Motol, Prgague, Czech Republic; Martin Stern, Universit7ts-Kinderklinik, Tubingen, Germany; Filip Van Ginderdeuren AZ-VUB, Brussels, Belgium; Thomas Wagner, Klinikum der J.W. GoetheUniversit7t, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Jaroslaw Walkowiak, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; Kevin Webb, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, UK. in secretory epithelial cells [1], with abnormal ion concentrations across the apical membranes of these cells. The clinical consequences include multi-system disease characterised by progressive pulmonary damage leading to respiratory failure, pancreatic dysfunction, liver disease that may progress to cirrhosis, gut motility problems, and elevated sweat electrolytes. Virtually all men with CF are infertile due to atresia or complete absence of the vas deferens. Cystic fibrosis is a complex disease requiring a holistic approach to treatment [3]. Center care by a team of trained and experienced health professionals is essential for optimal patient management and outcome [4]. Specialist care in dedicated CF centers is associated with improved survival and quality of life [4,5]. Such care involves frequent clinical evaluations and monitoring for complications, by physicians and other healthcare workers specifically trained in the management of CF and early treatment interventions. Standards of care define the optimal service provision necessary to deliver the best outcomes possible for patients. Several guidelines have been written to assist CF caregivers in the evaluation and monitoring of patients, detection of complications and prevention of clinical deterioration [6–9]. However there is lack of uniformity in many of the agreed European recommendations e.g.; the necessary infrastructure for a CF center; the minimum standards for routine evaluation and assessment of patients; the documentation of results in a standard database and; the management of complications. We are convinced that intensive treatments, both prophylactic and as a response to acute events, decrease morbidity and increase survival and quality of life. The aim of this consensus document is to define standards for the routine evaluation, monitoring and treatment of patients with CF in Europe. We hope that these will be adopted by all European CF centers to provide a quality assurance instrument and a basis for audit of CF care. is 4 (2005) 7–26