Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: natural history and prognosis

PW Noble - Clinics in chest medicine, 2006 - chestmed.theclinics.com
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrosing interstitial lung disease of unknown
cause that is characterized clinically by progressive dyspnea, reduced lung volumes, and
impaired gas exchange [1, 2]. IPF accounts for approximately one quarter of all interstitial
lung diseases in populationbased studies and national registries and is the most common of
the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias [3, 4]. The diagnosis of IPF carries a bleak prognosis,
although survival time varies considerably from patient to patient. Early studies suggested …