Características radiológicas e histológicas de pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar intersticial difusa llevados a biopsia pulmonar en una institución del oriente colombiano

Introduction: The diagnosis of diffuse interstitial lung disease (ILD) requires a multidisciplinary approach and, sometimes, a lung biopsy. Objective: To describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and radiological and histological findings of patients with ILD who required a lung biopsy after the multidisciplinary board (pneumology, radiology and pathology) of a reference center for respiratory diseases in Bucaramanga, Colombia, failed to reach a diagnosis of ILD. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study. The medical records of 56 patients treated at the Instituto Neumologico del Oriente and who underwent a lung biopsy between 2015 and 2019 were reviewed. Demographic and clinical variables were analyzed by calculating measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion for their respective characterization. A bivariate analysis was performed using the Fisher's exact test to determine if there were differences in the distribution of the sociodemographic and clinical variables according to the radiological patterns and the final histological diagnosis. Results: Participants’ median age was 67 years (IQR: 59-72), and 55.4% were men. 43 patients had radiologic pattern inconsistent with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP); 4, a pattern suggesting possible UIP, and 9, a UIP pattern. The most frequent histological diagnoses were hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) 32%, non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) (17.8%), and UIP (19.6%). Conclusion: The main reason for performing a lung biopsy in the study population was the presence of a radiologic pattern inconsistent with UIP, being HP the main histopathological diagnosis. This is the first study in which patients from eastern Colombia with ILD undergoing a lung biopsy are characterized, which represents an important contribution to the knowledge of the epidemiology of this disease in Colombia.