Tables
- Table 1. Progress made in the field of interstitial lung disease
Key messages According to the new classification, IIPs are categorised as major, rare and unclassifiable MDD discussion is the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of the IIPs For entities with heterogeneity in the clinical course and that are difficult to classify, a disease behaviour classification complementary to IIP classification has been proposed IPF is a progressive and lethal fibrosing lung disease with an unpredictable course Disease stratification aims to identify subgroups of patients who present similar characteristics and should be treated accordingly or enrolled in treatment trials Gene polymorphisms related to host defence and cell repair are associated with the development of IPF Markers of IPF progression have been identified by blood transcriptomic and proteomic studies A combination of blood transcriptome with demographic and functional characteristics provides better information on the outcome of IPF Early diagnosis and treatment of IPF comorbidities may have a positive effect on patients quality of life Disease stratification and early identification of patients more likely to progress, and thus need more aggressive treatment, is also important in CTD-ILD Predicting the clinical course of sarcoidosis, especially lung fibrosis and cardiac and neurological involvement, is still challenging Potential novel genomic biomarkers, such as multi-gene signatures, can be useful to predict complicated sarcoidosis In the presence of cardiac sarcoidosis, ICD therapy may be used as a component of an aggressive primary prevention strategy, especially in those patients with ventricular dysfunction As second-line therapy in sarcoidosis, methotrexate and azathioprine are equally effective in terms of pulmonary function improvement and have a significant steroid-sparing effect IIP: idiopathic interstitial pneumonia; MDD: multidisciplinary diagnosis; IPF: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; CTD: connective tissue disease; ILD: interstitial lung disease; ICD: implantable cardioverter defibrillator.