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. 2022 Apr 19;8(2):00479-2021. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00479-2021

TABLE 5.

Characteristics of patients evaluated at the ambulatory care visit according to the presence of fibrotic lesions in lungs

Available data All (171) Patients with fibrotic lesions (33) Patients without fibrotic lesions (138) p-value
Time from hospital discharge to the outpatient clinic, days 171 122 (106–143) 109 (94–125) 127 (109–146) 0.004
Assessment at the ambulatory care visit
 New-onset dyspnoea 171 76 (44.4%) 18 (54.5%) 58 (42.0%) 0.28
 mMRC scale score for dyspnoea 171 0.65

  •   0

 83 (48.5%) 15 (45.5%) 68 (49.3%)

  •   1–2

 74 (43.3%) 14 (42.4%) 60 (43.5%)

  •   3–4

 14 (8.2%) 4 (12.1%) 10 (7.2%)
 New-onset cough 171 22 (13.3%) 5 (15.1%) 17 (12.3%) 0.77
 6-min walk distance, m 155 459 (378–504) 486 (401–510) 454 (375–498) 0.24
 Abnormal HRCT of the chest 171 108 (63.5%) 33 (100%) 75 (54.5%) <0.001
 Reticulations 171 91 (53.5%) 31 (93.9%) 60 (43.5%) <0.001
 Persistent ground-glass opacities 171 72 (42.1%) 22 (66.6%) 50 (36.2%) 0.03
 Pulmonary function tests
   FEV1, % pred 151 90.9±18.0 86.2±20.0 92.1±17.3 0.14
   FEV1/VC, % 151 82.0±7.5 82.3±6.3 82.0±7.8 0.82
   VC, % pred 146 89.2±16.3 80.6±20.0 91.5±14.4 0.007
   TLC, % pred 143 82.6±15.2 74.1±13.7 84.9±14.8 <0.001
   DLCO, % pred 146 86.5±22.8 73.3±17.9 89.7±22.8 <0.001
   DLCO<70% 146 32 (21.9%) 12 (41.4%) 20 (17.1%) 0.01
 Nijmegen score>22 162 35 (21.6%) 2 (6.3%) 33 (25.4%) 0.03
 LVEF≤50% on echocardiography 80 10 (12.5%) 5 (19.2%) 5 (9.3%) 0.28

Values are expressed as the median (interquartile range), mean±sd, or number and frequency. The p-values refer to a comparison between patients with and without fibrotic lesions.

DLCO: diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration; HRCT: high-resolution computed tomography; LVEF: left ventricular ejection fraction; mMRC: modified Medical Research Council; VC: vital capacity.