Outcome of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis admitted to the ICU for respiratory failure

Study objectives: To analyze the outcome of acute respiratory failure (ARF) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and to calculate the benefits of invasive and noninvasive mechanical ventilation (MV). Design: Retrospective study. Setting: University hospital. Patients: Fifteen consecutive patients with IPF referred to the ICU for ARF between January 1989 and June 1998, Measurements and results: Fifteen patients (mean +/- SD age, 64 +/- 10) ears) were included. Eight patients had clinical, functional, and radiologic features of IPF, and the remaining seven patients also had biopsy specimen-proven IPF. The mean duration between diagnosis of IPF and admission to the ICU was 26.5 +/- 28 months. At the time of ICU admission, mean arterial blood gas levels were as follows: PaO2/fraction of inspired oxygen, 113 +/- 95; pH, 7.32 +/- 0.10; and PaCO2, 55 +/- 21 mm Hg. All patients received MV; 12 patients required tracheal intubation, either at the time of ICU admission (n = 10) or after failure of noninvasive ventilation (NIV; n = 2); and 3 patients only received NIV. Three of the five patients receiving NIV died of respiratory failure. Eleven patients died in the ICU, either from hypoxemia (n = 8) or from septic shock (n = 3), Four patients were discharged alive from the ICU, and two of them died shortly thereafter, Conclusion: The outcome of patients with IPF referred to the ICU for ARF was very poor and not improved by MV. Without a clearly identified reversible cause of ARF, these patients should not benefit from admission to the ICU.