In this video I explain what is pulmonary fibrosis and outline the difference between progressive and non-progressive fibrosis. Fibrosis literally means scarring of the lungs and can have many causes. When we don’t know the cause and the fibrosis progressively gets worse, we call this idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (or IPF).
Lung function (such as spirometry or gas transfer) is very important to determine how badly affected the lungs are. A progressive decline in lung function, respiratory symptoms and worsening on chest imaging (CTs and Xrays) over time defines progressive pulmonary fibrosis.
