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Abstract

Functional Respiratory Assessment in Interstitial Lung Disease

VOLUME 67 - NUMBER 1 / January-February (In-depth Reviews)

José Luis Miguel-Reyes, Department of Respiratory Physiology and Asthma Clinic, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias Ismael Cosío Villegas, México, D.F., México
Laura Gochicoa-Rangel, National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER), Mexico City, Mexico
José R. Pérez-Padilla, Department of Research on Smoking and COPD, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias Ismael Cosío Villegas, SSA, Mexico City, Mexico
Luis Torre-Bouscoulet, Department of Respiratory Physiology, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias Ismael Cosío Villegas and Laboratorio de Función Pulmonar S de RL, Mexico City, Mexico

Interstitial lung diseases are a heterogeneous group of disorders that affect, to a greater or lesser degree, the alveolus, peripheral airway, and septal interstitium. Functional assessment in patients suspected of having an interstitial lung disease has implications for diagnosis and makes it possible to objectively analyze both response to treatment and prognosis. Recently the clinical value of lung-diffusing capacity and the six-minute walking test has been confirmed, and these are now important additions to the traditional assessment of lung function that is based on spirometry. Here we review the state-of-the-art methods for the assessment of patients with interstitial lung disease.

Keywords: Interstitial lung disease. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary function test. Minimum clinically significant difference. Pulmonary hypertension.

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