Progressive pulmonary fibrosis: the importance of identification and intervention - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #medical guidelines
- #interstitial lung disease
- #pulmonary fibrosis
- Progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) is a concept used to identify patients with worsening interstitial lung disease (ILD) who require treatment.
- Criteria for PPF often rely on deterioration in forced vital capacity, worsening symptoms, and/or radiological abnormalities, but are imperfect and based on limited evidence.
- PPF is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and flexibility in defining progression is needed in clinical practice due to varying monitoring methods.
- Timely identification of PPF is crucial to initiate treatment, slow fibrosis progression, assess lung transplant eligibility, and provide supportive care.
- Future approaches may focus on earlier treatment of at-risk patients to improve outcomes.