The structure and gender characteristics of progressive pulmonary fibrosis according to retrospective research

Progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PLF) is a group of chronic interstitial lung diseases (ILD) that share common clinical, functional and radiological characteristics and have unfavorable prognosis. The aim was to study the structure and course of PLF in patients with chronic ILD. Methods. A retrospective analysis of 463 medical records of patients with chronic ILD aged 18 to 80 years was carried out for the period from January 2020 to December 2023. PLF was diagnosed based on the criteria of the American Thoracic Society (2022). Statistical data processing was carried out using the Statistica 10.0 program. Results. Signs of PLF were detected in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (ILF) in 91.1% of cases, in patients with ILD associated with systemic scleroderma (SSD) – in 71.4% of cases; in patients with hypersensitive pneumonitis (HP), nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and undifferentiated ILD – in 47.5%, 44.4%, and 31.1% of cases, respectively. The progression of pulmonary fibrosis in ILD associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was 16.6%, in sarcoidosis – 2.5%. PLF was statistically significantly more often recorded in men with chronic HP (60% in men vs 40.5% in women; χ 2 = 3.4; p = 0.02); and significantly more often in women with unclassified ILD (39% in women vs 24.5% in men; χ 2 = 4.2; p = 0.033). Regardless of gender, patients with PLF were older than patients with ILD without signs of PLF (63.1 ± 8.7 years vs 53.8 ± 17.2 years; p = 0.007) Conclusion. Signs of PLF were detected in 32.6% of patients with ILD. The highest incidence of PLF was recorded in the group with ILF and HP, the lowest in lung sarcoidosis. Regardless of gender, patients with ILD and PLF were older than patients without signs of PLF.