Table 1.
Baseline variables of 112 patients considered for lung biopsy from January of 2017 to December of 2019, stratified by MDD recommendation
| Variable | Total n = 112 |
No biopsy n = 31 |
TBFB n = 16 |
TBCB n = 54 |
SLB n = 11 |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median (p25–p75) | 67 (61–73) | 66 (60–74) | 70 (58–74) | 67 (61–73) | 64 (59–68) | 0.607 |
| Male gender, n (%) | 61 (55) | 19 (61) | 6 (38) | 32 (59) | 4 (36) | 0.226 |
| Any HP exposure*, n (%) | 33 (30) | 10 (32) | 7 (44) | 13 (24) | 3 (27) | 0.476 |
| Positive HP panel, n (%) | 23 (21) | 5 (16) | 7 (44) | 8 (15) | 3 (27) | 0.655 |
| CTD symptoms/signs**, n (%) | 13 (12) | 4 (13) | 2 (13) | 5 (9) | 2 (18) | 0.736 |
| Any CTD serologies***, n (%) | 20 (18) | 5 (16) | 2 (13) | 11 (20) | 2 (18) | 0.928 |
| Pulmonary function tests | ||||||
| FVC pp, median (p25–p75) | 71 (57–83) | 69 (57–79) | 69 (54–82) | 73 (57–86) | 71 (58–91) | 0.621 |
| DLCO pp, median (p25–p75) | 52 (42–60) | 48 (35–59) | 53 (42–57) | 54 (45–61) | 54 (40–59) | 0.368 |
| Radiology pattern, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||||
| Definite UIP | 9 (8) | 5 (16) | 1 (6) | 2 (4) | 1 (9) | |
| Probable UIP | 44 (39) | 12 (39) | 4 (25) | 27 (50) | 1 (9) | |
| Indeterminate for UIP | 12 (11) | 0 (0) | 3 (19) | 9 (17) | 0 (0) | |
| NSIP | 17 (15) | 8 (26) | 1 (6) | 5 (9) | 3 (27) | |
| HP | 8 (7) | 3 (10) | 3 (19) | 1 (2) | 1 (9) | |
| OP | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (9) | |
| Smoking-related ILD | 7 (6) | 0 (0) | 2 (13) | 3 (6) | 2 (18) | |
| Sarcoidosis | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | |
| Unclassifiable | 6 (5) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (11) | 0 (0) | |
| Other | 7 (6) | 3 (10) | () | 0 (0) | 2 (18) | |
| Most likely diagnosis pre-biopsy, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||||
| IPF | 22 (20) | 16 (52) | 1 (6) | 5 (9) | 0 (0) | |
| NSIP | 7 (6) | 3 (10) | 0 (0) | 3 (6) | 1 (9) | |
| CTD-related ILD | 2 (2) | 2 (7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| HP | 11 (10) | 4 (13) | 4 (25) | 3 (6) | 0 (0) | |
| Indeterminate | 64 (57) | 1 (3) | 11 (69) | 42 (78) | 10 (90) | |
| Other | 6 (5) | 5 (16) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) |
MDD, multidisciplinary discussion; TBFB, transbronchial forceps biopsy; TBCB, transbronchial cryobiopsy; SLB, surgical lung biopsy; HP, hypersensitivity pneumonitis; OP, organizing pneumonia; CTD, connective tissue disease; FVC pp, forced vital capacity percent predicted; DLCO pp, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide percent predicted; UIP, usual interstitial pneumonia; nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; ILD, interstitial lung disease; IPF, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
*HP exposures: mold, birds, feathers, farm, hot tub, metalworking fluid; **CTD symptoms/signs: mechanic’s hands, digital ulcers, arthritis or morning stiffness, palmar telangiectasia, Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital edema, Gottron’s sign; ***CTD serologies: ANA, anti-centromere, rheumatoid factor, anti-CCP, anti-ds-dna, anti-SSA, anti-SSB, anti-RNP, anti-Smith, anti-Scl-70, myositis antibodies