Resumen de Latin American Registry of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (REFIPI): Clinical Characteristics, Evolution and Treatment
Fabian Caro, Ivette Buendía Roldán, Lorena Noriega, María Laura Alberti, Alexandre Franco Amaral, Guillermo Adolfo Arbo Oze de Morvil, Santiago Auteri, Aníbal Bermúdez, Pablo Curbelo, Manuel de Jesús Díaz Verduzco, Isabel De la Fuente, Juan Ignacio Enghelmayer, Martín Eduardo Fernández, Matías Florenzano, Fernando Guillen, Ronaldo Adib Kairalla, Yuri Liberato, Carlos Matiz, Mayra E. Mejía Avila, Viviana Alejandra Moyano, Alfredo Pachas, Silvia V. Escotorin, Gabriela Tabaj, Esther Tavera, Alvaro Undurraga Pereira, Brenda Varela, José Luis Velazquez, Moisés Selman Lama
Introduction Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, irreversible and frequently fatal disease. Currently there are national and multinational registries in Europe, United States, Australia and China to better understand the magnitude of the problem and the characteristics of the IPF patients. However, there are no national or regional registries in Latin America, so the objective of this study was to carry out a Latin American registry that would allow the identification of IPF patients in our region.
Methodology A system consisting of 3 levels of control was designed, ensuring that patients met the diagnostic criteria for IPF according to international guidelines ATS/ERS/ALAT/JRS 2011. Demographic, clinical, serological, functional, tomographic, histological and treatment variables were recorded through a digital platform.
Results 761 IPF patients from 14 Latin American countries were included for analysis, 74.7% were male, with a mean age of 71.9+8.3 years. In general there was a long period of symptoms before definitive diagnosis (median 1 year). In functional tests, an average reduction of FVC (70.9%) and DLCO (53.7%) was detected. 72% received at least one antifibrotic drug (pirfenidone or nintedanib) and 11.2% of the patients had an acute exacerbation, of which 38 (45.2%) died from this cause.
Conclusions Like other registries, we found that there is difficulty in the recognition and excessive delay in the diagnosis of IPF in Latin America. Most of the patients in REFIPI received antifibrotics; these were well tolerated and associated with fewer adverse events than those reported in clinical trials.
