Management of patients with end stage pulmonary fibrosis: Challenges, tempations and possibilities

Introduction. Pulmonary fibrosis is a heterogeneous group of chronic lung diseases of unclear pathogenesis, with progressive, irreversible development of various forms of fibrotic processes in the lung, whose incidence and mortality rate increases worldwide. Prognostic Evaluation. Some clinical forms have a long, stable phase, some are slowly progressive, and some have a very rapid progression from diagnosis to death. Their clinical course is characterized by acute exacerbations with high mortality. The staging of this disease includes diagnostics of the stable condition, progression and the end stage of disease. This paper presents the diagnostic criteria necessary for the diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis and its monitoring. The latest research suggests that the decrease in forced vital capacity values by more than 10% during the 24 weeks doubles the risk of death over the next 12 months, and the reduction in the 6-minute walk test by 50 meters increases it four times. Therefore, monitoring of these prognostic parameters is now regarded as the most reliable predictor of death in patients with pulmonary fibrosis. Therapy. This paper also presents the newest recommendations for treatment modalities based on strong evidence. Conclusion. Treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in our conditions includes conventional therapy with corticosteroids as monotherapy or in combination with cyclophosphamide or azathioprine, whereas the management of end-stage patients consists of long-term controlled oxygen therapy, noninvasive and mechanical ventilation. Lung transplantation is considered to be the only therapeutic measure resulting in a significant extension of life. Unfortunately, our health legislation allows lung transplantation only in case of cystic fibrosis and this cannot be done in Serbia but in health centres abroad. Therefore, management in end-stage of disease is reduced to mere palliative care, even at intensive care units. nema