PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Saher B. Shaker
AU  - Niels Seersholm
AU  - Marianne Hestad
AU  - Svenja Andersen
AU  - Asger Dirksen
TI  - High-dose N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in fibrotic interstitial lung diseases, a retrospective analysis
DP  - 2013 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P2359
VI  - 42
IP  - Suppl 57
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P2359.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P2359.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2013 Sep 01; 42
AB  - Background: NAC is prescribed to patients with fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (f-ILD) due to its antioxidant effects and based on a single clinical trial in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).Objective: to characterize the practice of prescribing NAC for f-ILD in our institution and to study the effect of NAC treatment on mortality and lung function decline in patients with IPF and other f-ILD.Methods: data from all patients treated with high-dose NAC for f-ILD in our hospital were retrospectively collected from patients’ records including lung function measurements and mortality data.Results: during the period 2004-2012, a total of 84 patients received high-dose NAC for IPF (n=52) or other f-ILD (n=32) including fibrotic NSIP, CTD-ILD and unclassified fibrosis. During follow-up period, 25 patients (48%) with IPF and 8 patients (25%) with other f-ILD died (p<0.036). The annual decline in FVC was 162 ml (±69) and 13 ml (±51) in patients with IPF and other f-ILD, respectively. The annual decline in DLco was 0.23 mm/kPa/min (±0.10) and 0.06 mm/kPa/min (±0.06) in patients with IPF and other f-ILD, respectively.Conclusion: As expected, among patients treated with NAC, mortality and decline in lung function were higher in patients with IPF than patients with other f-ILD; nevertheless, the figures in IPF were similar to those from placebo arms in randomized clinical trials.