Usefulness of Transbronchial Lung Cryobiopsy When Starting Antifibrotic Treatment and Predicting Progressive Fibrosing Interstitial Lung Disease: Descriptive Research.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC) is widely used in diagnostic algorithms for various interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), its real-world utility in the therapeutic decision-making strategy for ILD patients remains unclear, in particular, when judging the time to start antifibrotic agents.

Methods

We analyzed medical records of 40 consecutive patients with idiopathic or fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis who underwent TBLC. A TBLC-based usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) score was used to assess three morphologic descriptors: patchy fibrosis, fibroblastic foci, and honeycombing.

Results

In our 40 patients with ILD, the most frequent radiological feature was indeterminate for UIP (45.0%). Final diagnosis included idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (

SUBMITTER: Takatsuka M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11251805 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature