Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: key updates on guidelines and therapeutics


Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung condition typically affecting adults over 50 years old. There are limited approved treatment options and several complications associated with the condition, which can make treating patients with the condition a challenge.

A review supplement presenting 7 reviews on IPF from the 2011 Advancing IPF Research symposium in Berlin has recently been published in Respiratory Research, the leading open access journal in the field of respiratory medicine. As Professor Ulrich Costabel concludes in his introduction to the supplement “A key take-home message from this meeting is that each patient should be viewed as an individual case when considering the diagnostic and disease management approaches.”

The supplement, supported by IntraMed Communications with funding from InterMune, AG, looks at key updates on guidelines and therapeutics including reviews of current perspectives in the field such as where we stand in IPF treatment, the role of pirfenidone in the treatment of IPF and the role of high resolution computed tomography imaging in diagnosing IPF. A review looking at previous Cochrane reports on investigational agents used for IPF in clinical trials summarizes the importance of future meta-analyses of the increasing number of clinical trials in order to establish the most effective treatment options.

At next month’s American Thoracic Society conference, several sessions will be dedicated to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, including some exciting pro/con debates around controversies in the field, which show promise for generating stimulating discussions.

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