Palliative medicine and end-of-life care in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

摘要

Dear Editor: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive interstitial lung disease of unknown etiology. The median survival of patients with IPF ranges from 2.5 to 3.5 years1 and the rate of progression to death may take several clinical forms: slow deterioration, rapid deterioration and progression, or periods of relative stability interposed with periods of acute respiratory decline; acute exacerbation of IPF has a very poor outcome.2 Evidence on how in-hospital IPF patients are cared for in a respiratory unit during the last period before death are lacking;4 we wanted to report our experience studying the available organizational support related to the dying process and quality of care in the last days of life of these patients; in particular we considered patients with acute exacerbation who did not respond to treatment and were referred to our palliative care unit.