Tzilas Vasilios, Tzouvelekis Argyris, Chrysikos Serafim, Papiris Spyridon, Bouros Demosthenes
First Academic Department of Pneumonology, Hospital for Thoracic Diseases, "Sotiria", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Division of Immunology, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Athens, Greece.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2017 Sep 20;4:151. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2017.00151. eCollection 2017.
The past few years have signaled a major breakthrough on the management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Finally, we have drugs in our arsenal able to slow down the inexorable disease natural course. On the other hand, the latter evidence has increased the responsibility for a timely and accurate diagnosis. Establishment of IPF diagnosis directly affects the choice of appropriate treatment. The current diagnostic guidelines represent a major step forward providing an evidence-based road map; yet, clinicians are encountering major diagnostic dilemmas that inevitably affect therapeutic decisions. This review article aims to summarize the current state of knowledge on the diagnostic procedure of IPF based on the current guidelines and discuss pragmatic difficulties and challenges encountered by clinicians with regards to their applicability in the everyday clinical practice.
过去几年标志着特发性肺纤维化（IPF）管理方面取得了重大突破。最终，我们的治疗手段中有了能够减缓这种无情疾病自然进程的药物。另一方面，后一项证据增加了及时准确诊断的责任。IPF诊断的确定直接影响适当治疗方法的选择。当前的诊断指南是向前迈出的重要一步，提供了一个循证路线图；然而，临床医生正面临重大诊断困境，这不可避免地影响治疗决策。这篇综述文章旨在根据当前指南总结IPF诊断程序的现有知识状态，并讨论临床医生在日常临床实践中应用这些指南时遇到的实际困难和挑战。
