The prognosis of cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis
AUTOR(ES)
Stack, B. H. R.
RESUMO
The course of cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis (CFA) in 96 patients is described. The mean survival from the onset of the first symptom until death was 47·4 months in all the 59 fatal cases, 49·6 months in those dying from CFA only, and 48·4 months in those dying from CFA in whom the course of the illness was not influenced by corticosteroids. There was a wide variation in the natural course of the disorder, varying from death within a year of the onset of symptoms in five patients to prolonged survival with slow or arrested progress in four patients not treated with corticosteroids. Most patients died from CFA but five developed bronchial carcinoma and two died after lung biopsy.
