Abstract
Accurate assessment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) disease severity is integral to the care provided to patients with IPF. However, to date, there are no generally accepted or validated staging systems. There is an abundance of data on using information acquired from physiological, radiological and pathological parameters, in isolation or in combination, to assess disease severity in IPF. Recently, there has been interest in using serum biomarkers and computed tomography-derived quantitative lung fibrosis measures to stage disease severity in IPF. This review will focus on the suggested methods for staging IPF, at baseline and on serial assessment, their strengths and limitations, as well as future developments.
Abstract
Staging disease severity in IPF is challenging: a review of current available methods and future developments http://ow.ly/oBoJ30e8kVS
Footnotes
Number 3 in the Series “Radiology” Edited by Nicola Sverzellati and Sujal Desai
Previous articles in this series: No. 1: Walsh SLF. Multidisciplinary evaluation of interstitial lung diseases: current insights. Eur Respir Rev 2017; 26: 170002. No. 2: Elicker BM, Kallianos KG, Henry TS. The role of high-resolution computed tomography in the follow-up of diffuse lung disease. Eur Respir Rev 2017; 26: 170008.
Conflict of interest: Disclosures can be found alongside this article at err.ersjournals.com
Provenance: Commissioned article, peer reviewed.
- Received April 20, 2017.
- Accepted June 16, 2017.
- Copyright ©ERS 2017.
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