IPF diagnosis: flexibility is a virtue

Abstract

In 2011, the joint guidelines 1 Raghu G Collard HR Egan JJ et al. An official ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT statement: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: evidence-based guidelines for diagnosis and management. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011; 183: 788-824 Crossref PubMed Scopus (5323) Google Scholar of the American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, Japanese Respiratory Society, and Thoracic Association of Latin America provided the first truly international evidence-based statement on the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Although this statement undoubtedly underpinned international collaboration in science and interventional trials, the rigour of the 2011 diagnostic criteria effectively disenfranchised a large subgroup of patients with IPF, in whom a surgical lung biopsy (SLB) could not be done and no definite diagnosis could be made. The concept of probable IPF was not explored in the 2011 guidelines, and the document was misinterpreted by some as proscribing IPF-specific therapies unless formal diagnostic guideline criteria were met. CorrectionsWells A U. IPF: flexibility is a virtue. Lancet Respir Med 2018; published online Sept 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(18)30374-6—In this Comment, the title should be “IPF diagnosis: flexibility is a virtue”. This correction has been made to the online version as of Sept 26, 2018, and the printed version is correct. Full-Text PDF