June 2012 pulmonary journal club

• Main Author: Mathew M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Arizona Thoracic Society 2012-06-01
• Series: Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
• Subjects: azathioprine; idiopathic pumonary fibrosis; n-acetylcysteine; prednisone
• Online Access: http://www.swjpcc.com/pulmonary-journal-club/2012/6/29/june-2012-pulmonary-journal-club.html?SSScrollPosition=159

No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) continues to be a devastating disease with no clinically significant treatment options. For years the treatment of IPF centered on a trial of prednisone followed by the addition of either cyclophosphamide or azathioprine as a ‘lets see if this helps’ approach. The 2011 ATS Consensus statement on IPF declared that the use of prednisone as monotherapy was not recommended. The consensus statement also yielded a weak recommendation for N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as monotherapy, and a weak recommendation of prednisone, azathioprine and NAC as combination therapy. This study is the first large multicenter, double-blind, placebo controlled trial looking at lung function in groups of patients treated with NAC monotherapy verses combination therapy (prednisone + azathioprine + NAC) versus placebo. The study was performed throughout 25 centers from 2009-2011. Inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of IPF, age 35-85, FVC > 50% and DLC0 > 30%. A total of 236 …