Clinicoradiological Profile of Patients with Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease

ABSTRACT

The profile of diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD) has mainly been reported from the developed countries; the prevalence and outcome of DPLD is not studied well across India. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical radiological spectrum of various DPLDs from a tertiary care centre of a developing country. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out in a single tertiary care center in northern India which included 50 consecutive subjects (age >12 years) who had diffuse parenchymal lung diseases. In this study, the clinical, radiological and histological data subjects was collected. Results: Out of the total 50 subjects, mean age was 49.04 years with females constituting 58% of the total. Most common symptoms were gradually progressing dyspnoea (100%) followed by dry cough (76%). The commonest finding on chest radiograph in our series was reticular pattern (78%).The commonest pattern on high-resolution computed tomography was traction bronchiectasis (56%), followed by honeycombing (50%), septal thickening (46%).The commonest cause of DPLD in study was Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (38) %, followed by connective tissue – interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD)(26%) and NSIP(12%). Smoking was one of the major risk factor associated with IPF, and 52.6% of patients with IPF were smokers (P<0.001). Conclusion: IPF (38%) was the commonest DPLD seen followed by CTD- ILD and NSIP at a tertiary center in northern India similar to the spectrum reported from developed countries. More studies are required from developing countries to ascertain the spectrum of DPLDs in different geographic