A nationwide patient survey highlights the lengthy and often inaccurate diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD), as well as the emotional stress it causes in patients.
The research, “Barriers to timely diagnosis of interstitial lung disease in the real world: the INTENSITY survey,” was published in the journal BMC Pulmonary Medicine.
The Interstitial Lung Disease Patient Diagnostic Journey (INTENSITY) survey quantified the challenges of diagnosing ILD and was conducted through a collaboration between the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation and Veracyte, a genomic diagnostics company.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic type of ILD that causes progressive scarring of the lungs. Diagnosis of IPF is currently done with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), which frequently leads to inconclusive diagnosis.
