Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in BRIC countries: the cases of Brazil, Russia, India, and China

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the prototype of interstitial lung diseases, has the worst prognosis and is the only interstitial lung disease for which approved pharmacological treatments are available. Despite being considered a rare disease, IPF patients pose major challenges to both physicians and healthcare systems. It is estimated that a large number of IPF patients reside in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) given their overall total population of approximately 3 billion inhabitants. Nevertheless, the limited availability of chest imaging in BRIC countries is considered a chief obstacle to diagnosis, since high-resolution computed tomography of the chest is the key diagnostic test for IPF. Further, obtaining reliable lung function tests and providing treatment access is difficult in the more rural areas of these countries. However, IPF might represent an opportunity for BRIC countries: the exponentially increasing demand for the enrollment of IPF patients in clinical trials of new drugs is predicted to face a shortage of patients - BRIC countries may thus play a crucial role in advancing towards a cure for IPF.

Fig. 1

Luca Richeldi is Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Chair of Interstitial Lung Disease at the University of Southampton, UK. He is also a member of the editorial board of BMC Medicine and guest editor for the article collection Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Diagnosis, Management, and New Therapies

Fig. 2

Adalberto Sperb Rubin is Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre. He has a PhD from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. He is Chief of the Pulmonary Department of Santa Casa of Porto Alegre and Coordinator of the ILD Center of this hospital. He is currently a member of the American Thoracic Society, the European Respiratory Society, the Latin American Thoracic Association, and the Brazilian Society of Pneumology and Tisiology (SBPT), as well as of the Interstitial Lung Disease Committee of SBPT

Fig. 3

Sergey Avdeev is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the Pulmonology Research Institute, Moscow. Since 2005, he has held positions as Chair of the Clinical Department and Vice Director of the Institute. His work focuses on the management of advanced pulmonary diseases, diffuse interstitial and rare lung disorders, and pulmonary hypertension. He is also involved in the lung transplant program of Moscow

Fig. 4

The mean duration of symptoms in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients at the time of initial diagnosis

Fig. 5

The proportion of physicians who prescribed each of the specified treatments in patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Fig. 6

Zarir F. Udwadia is a consultant pulmonologist at Hinduja Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India. His research interests include interstitial lung disease and drug-resistant tuberculosis. He has written over 100 peer-reviewed articles and authored chapters in several international textbooks

Fig. 7

Zuo Jun Xu, is the Chief Physician and a Professor at the Respiratory Disease Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and is also the Vice Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Group of the Chinese Society of Respiratory Diseases, Chinese Medical Association. He is a member of the Council of Beijing Medical Doctor Association as well as a member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine. He has published over 200 scientific papers and participated in the editing of 65 monographs