Interstitial Lung Disease Exacerbations Study

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is an umbrella term covering numerous conditions that affect the lung tissue, interfering with the ability of the lungs to take up oxygen. Most ILDs get worse gradually, but sometimes patients can experience a sudden worsening in their symptoms called an acute exacerbation (AE-ILD). Most studies in this area have been done in AEs of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF), as IPF is the commonest form of ILD. AE-IPF has very poor outcomes, however AEs of other ILDs are less well studied. Furthermore, there is currently no treatment guideline or established standard of care for the management of patients with AE-fILD. The aim of this research project is to gain a better understanding of AE-ILD in a real-world population. By looking at the clinical records of patients with AE-ILD, the study aims to describe the patient population that gets AE-ILD and how these patients are treated in the "real world" setting. The study will also gather information on patient characteristics such as type of ILD and test results at the time of AE-ILD, and see if any of these factors are associated with better/ worse outcomes in AE-ILD. Finally, the study will collect data on the treatment approaches taken, including both medical therapy such as steroid treatment, as well as specialist care team input. This data on treatment will be used to identify associations between individual treatments and outcomes, as well as to evaluate the NHS services being provided to patients with AE-ILD. Overall, this study will enhance understanding of AE-ILD. This study will provide information to help design clinical trials to test treatments for AE-ILD, to help us create evidence-based clinical guidelines for AE-ILD, and improve the management of patients with AE-ILD.