Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis--Pathogenesis and Staging - SCOR in Occupational and Immunological Lung Diseases

BACKGROUND:

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease of unknown etiology characterized pathologically by a chronic inflammatory process (alveolitis) that precedes and likely controls the alterations in connective tissue matrix that eventually destroys the normal lung architecture. The mechanisms involved in this process are not known. A complex cell-cell interactive sequence, involving principally neutrophils, lymphocytes, macrophages, fibroblast, and epithelial cells is believed to be responsible.

The SCOR in Occupational and Immunological Lung Diseases was first awarded in December, 1981. The subproject on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was first awarded in December, 1986.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

The cross-sectional comparison examined bronchoalveolar lavage, high resolution, thin-section computer tomography (HRCT), neutrophil or monocyte labeled scintigraphy). The serial, longitudinal evaluation monitored the progression of disease. The study of PSS patients, without disease or with subclinical disease, was particularly useful because it allowed examination of the early events in the pathogenesis of IPF. The long-term goal of the project was to determine what alterations in cellular composition, function and trafficking occurred in the lung parenchyma of patients with IPF and to relate these alterations to the disease stage, prognosis, and therapeutic responsiveness.