Clinical and tomographic characterization of patients with interstitial lung disease at the Trujillo Regional Teaching Hospital, Peru

Objective To determine the main clinical and tomographic characteristics of patients with diffuse interstitial lung disease at Trujillo Regional Teaching Hospital. Methods Case series. Tomographic examinations and clinical data were obtained from patients with interstitial pulmonary disease who attended the pulmonology service of Trujillo Regional Teaching Hospital. The information collected was recorded and systematized in Excel. For the statistical analysis, SPSS 23.0 program was used. Results Data from 103 patients were obtained, of which 60.2% were female, and 39.8% were male. The average age was 72 years for both groups. Main clinical manifestations were cough (82.5%), dyspnea (76.7%), joint pain (43.7%), weight loss (40.8%), velcro crackles (35%) and digital clubbing (28.2%). Exposure to wood smoke was present in 46.6%, exposure to inorganic dust in 12.6% and fowl ownership in 9.7% of cases. Thirty-one (30.1%) patients presented comorbidities. Among these, rheumatic diseases and arterial hypertension were the most frequent. Non-specific interstitial pneumonia pattern was present in 26.2% of the cases; probable usual interstitial pneumonia in 16.5%; organized type in 12.6%; usual interstitial in 10.7%; acute interstitial in 2.9% and 27.1% had no defined tomographic pattern. Conclusions In the studied population, clinical and tomographic characteristics of interstitial lung parenchymal diseases are variable in magnitude and forms of presentation. Female sex and exposure to fuels were the most frequent associated factors. Connective tissue diseases could also explain study findings.