Platythorax progresses with lung involvement in pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis

Platythorax increases residual volume/total lung capacity in idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis

Platythorax significantly contributes to the increase in residual volume/total lung capacity ratio in patients with idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis https://bit.ly/3uZ0rmP.

Partial pressure of carbon dioxide levels reflect disease severity in idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis

BACKGROUND

Hypercapnia can cause a disturbance of consciousness and adversely affect a patient's general condition. Patients with interstitial lung disease seldom experience hypercapnia. Hypercapnia is a typical phenomenon in patients with pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE), especially in advanced stages. However, the clinical significance of hypercapnia in patients with idiopathic PPFE (iPPFE) has not been studied in detail.

METHODS

We retrospectively selected patients with iPPFE who had undergone blood gas analysis. The first blood gas data obtained after iPPFE diagnosis were examined. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO₂) levels and their association with characteristic iPPFE parameters, including the flat chest index (the ratio of the anteroposterior diameter of the thoracic cage to the transverse diameter of the thoracic cage), were investigated.

RESULTS

A total of 47 patients with iPPFE were included in this study. The PCO₂ level was moderately and inversely correlated with the forced vital capacity. (r = -0.431, P = 0.014), flat chest index (r = -0.497, P < 0.001), and body mass index (r = -0.313, P = 0.038) and was positively correlated with residual volume/total lung capacity. (r = 0.514, P < 0.01). A higher PCO₂ level was also significantly associated with poorer prognosis in patients with iPPFE.

CONCLUSIONS

PCO₂ levels could be used as an indicator of disease severity in patients with iPPFE.

Pulmonary hypertension or pulmonary arterial hypertension in idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis: An updated comprehensive review

Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (iPPFE) is a little-known entity with unique clinical, radiological, and pathological features. iPPFE is chronic interstitial pneumonia characterized by the thickening of elastic fibers in the pleura and subpleural parenchyma involving the upper lobes. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) usually depicts bilateral pleural thickening, with a left scalloped appearance that conditions retraction of the structures of the superior mediastinum and both pulmonary hila, associated with pulmonary consolidations with bronchogram air and thickening of the peribronchovascular interstitium, in addition to areas of left apical air trapping. When severe enough, the disease leads to progressive loss of volume of the upper lobes, decreased body mass, and platythorax. Some patients with iPPFE follow an inexorably progressive course culminating in irreversible respiratory failure and premature death. Up to 20% of patients might develop pulmonary hypertension (PH); transthoracic echocardiography is used as a screening test for PH; right heart catheterization performed in a tertiary-care hospital will confirm the diagnosis. Because iPPFE can be easily confused and misdiagnosed with infectious pathologies, such as pulmonary tuberculosis, and easily confuse physicians with little expertise in diffuse interstitial lung diseases, knowing the differential diagnoses, clinical presentation, imaging, and complications of the iPPFE allows for an early diagnosis and gives patients who suffer from it a better quality of life. This report presents a comprehensive review of PPFEi, discussing severe precapillary pulmonary hypertension and the associated findings demonstrated by right heart catheterization (RHC), which be of interest for cardiopulmonologists.

Impact of sleep-related hypoventilation in patients with pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis

BACKGROUND

Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) is a rare fibrosing lung disease with a predilection for the upper lobe and its progression causes hypoventilation, resulting in hypercapnia. Even though the association between sleep-related hypoventilation (SRH) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was well documented, its impact in patients with PPFE was not evaluated. The aim of this study is to clarify the impact of SRH on prognosis in PPFE.

METHODS

A retrospective review of the medical records of 52 patients with PPFE who underwent transcutaneous carbon dioxide monitoring during sleep was done. Patients were stratified into SRH (n = 28) and non-SRH (n = 24) groups based on American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria. The impact of SRH on the prognosis of PPFE, as well as the clinical factors and comorbidities of PPFE associated with SRH, were evaluated.

RESULTS

Forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC), total lung capacity (TLC), and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLco) in the SRH group were significantly lower than the non-SRH group (P < .01). Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) was found at a higher rate in the SRH group (P = .02). The median survival time for SRH patients was 330 days, whereas roughly 80% of non-SRH patients were alive during the 3-year observation period (P < .01). Body mass index was a significant prognostic factor in PPFE patients with SRH (HR .78; 95% CI; .64-.94; P < .01). Home oxygen therapy (HOT) during the day and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) at night while sleeping tended to improve prognosis in the SRH group, as indicated by HR of .25 (P = .07).

CONCLUSIONS

SRH may be a poor prognostic factor for PPFE. Additionally, SRH may modify susceptibility to Aspergillosis in patients with PPFE. HOT plus NPPV may improve the disease outcomes in patients with SRH.