TY - JOUR T1 - Demonstration of diagnostic and prognostic benefits of an interstitial lung disease (ILD) multidisciplinary team meeting JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - 4864 AU - Lisa Spencer AU - Seamus Grundy AU - Melanie Greaves AU - Paul Bishop AU - Annette Duck AU - Colm Leonard Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/4864.abstract N2 - Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the commonest of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, is increasing in incidence/prevalence. Diagnosis can be challenging due to a number of interstitial lung disease with overlapping clinical, radiological or pathological features. Recent guidelines (British Thoracic Society) emphasise the need for multidisciplinary team-based diagnosis, but little published evidence is available to support this recommendation.Methods: 161 consecutive patients discussed at the ILD MDT meeting at University Hospital of South Manchester were analysed.Results: In 69 of 161 cases the MDT agreed with the diagnosis of the referring physician. In 67 of 161 cases a single ILD label different to that of the referring centre was given, and in 25 of 161 cases the ILD delivered a differential diagnosis only. Of 67 patients referred with definite IPF only 40 patients (60%) kept their label of IPF, the remaining 27 patients receiving a different diagnosis, predominantly non-specific interstitial pneumonitis (NSIP). At time of follow (3-6 years after MDT discussion) 52% of patients who kept their IPF diagnosis were alive versus 78% of patients alive where a pre-MDT diagnosis of IPF was changed to a more favourable diagnosis, p<0.05.Conclusion: This data is the largest ILD MDT cohort thus far reported and is the first report to clearly link an MDT-based change in diagnosis from IPF to NSIP translating into documented improved survival. ER -