Reporter Chen Jinlong / Taichung Report
A woman suffering from scleroderma, at first wheezing thought it was just a cold, but it became more wheezing after a few months. After lung CT scan and lung function test, it was confirmed that she had pulmonary fibrosis caused by scleroderma. Lung function From 72% 4 years ago to only 52%, it is progressive pulmonary fibrosis. In addition to administering anti-pulmonary fibrosis drugs, Taichung Veterans General also treats the systemic inflammation caused by scleroderma, and cooperates with rehabilitation and cardiology, active exercise and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. In January this year, the lung function has returned to 72 %, you can also climb mountains and make women very happy.
Fu Bingui, director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Integrated Care Center of Taichung Veterans General Association, pointed out that interstitial pneumonia refers to the collective name of lesions in the connective tissue between the alveoli. If the disease is not treated in time, the lung will progress to “Caiguabu lung” or “pulmonary fibrosis”.
Fu Bingui said that interstitial lung disease has a high mortality rate and requires multi-disciplinary joint care. Many patients may only have symptoms such as dry cough and a little shortness of breath in the early stage. Because it is similar to cold or asthma, it is not easy to be detected early, so it is delayed. Treatment opportunity. In the middle stage, there will be obvious weight loss, loss of appetite, and dyspnea. Progressive pulmonary fibrosis is a more difficult type of interstitial lung disease, and patients will eventually progress to respiratory failure and even die.
Fu Bingui said that in order to improve the medical care of pulmonary fibrosis, the Taichung Veterans General Association established the first “Interstitial Lung Disease Integrated Care Center” in the country two years ago to develop patient-centered multi-specialty services, including early diagnosis and screening, nursing process customer Systematization, standardization of cardiopulmonary comorbidity assessment, development of serum biomarkers, introduction of international clinical trials, development of stem cell and regenerative medicine, and lung transplantation care and treatment, etc. patient.
