5th Year MBBS Student, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
J Pak Med Assoc. 2024 Jun;74(6):1207-1209. doi: 10.47391/JPMA.9777.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common progressive form of interstitial lung disease (ILD) that leads to gradual deterioration of lung function and ultimately death. Data from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) on IPF is scarce. In this communication, we report the challenges encountered in managing IPF from Pakistan's largest tertiary care centre. A total of 108 patients with IPF were evaluated at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan from January 2017 to March 2020. A significant concern was that most patients with IPF presented late during their disease. A bigger challenge encountered in clinical practice was the cost and nonavailability of antifibrotic therapy in the country until mid-2020. Successfully addressing these limitations, it is anticipated that better care will be available for the patients suffering from IPF in this part of the world.
特发性肺纤维化（IPF）是最常见的进行性间质性肺疾病（ILD），可导致肺功能逐渐恶化，最终导致死亡。关于 IPF 的中低收入国家（LMIC）的数据很少。在本通讯中，我们报告了在巴基斯坦最大的三级保健中心管理 IPF 时遇到的挑战。2017 年 1 月至 2020 年 3 月，在巴基斯坦卡拉奇的 Aga Khan 大学医院共评估了 108 例 IPF 患者。一个主要的关注点是，大多数 IPF 患者在疾病晚期才就诊。在临床实践中遇到的更大挑战是，直到 2020 年年中，该国的抗纤维化疗法费用昂贵且无法获得。成功解决这些限制因素后，预计该地区的 IPF 患者将获得更好的治疗。
