What are the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis?

For patients with pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, the main symptoms are dyspnea, dyspnea during work, or coughing and wheezing during sleep. If secondary infection occurs, blood in sputum may also appear, causing the patient to lose weight, become weak, have a poor appetite, and have joint pain.

1. Symptoms

① Dyspnea: Dyspnea is exertional and progressively worsens, with shallow and rapid breathing. Nasal flaring and accessory muscles may participate in breathing, but most people do not sit up to breathe.

② Cough and sputum: There is no cough in the early stage, but there may be a dry cough or a small amount of mucus sputum later. Secondary infection is prone to occur, resulting in mucopurulent sputum or purulent sputum, and occasionally bloody sputum.

③Systemic symptoms may include weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite, joint pain, etc., which are generally rare. The acute type may be accompanied by fever.

2. Common signs

①Dyspnea and cyanosis.

②Chest expansion and decreased diaphragm activity.

③ Velcro rales in the middle and lower parts of both lungs are characteristic.

④ Clubbing of fingers and toes.

⑤ Corresponding signs of end-stage respiratory failure and right heart failure.

3. Features

This type of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis is the most common in IIP (accounting for about 65%), and is more common in adults over 50 years old. About 2/3 of patients are over 60 years old, and there are more males than females. Clinical manifestations include dry cough, dyspnea, etc. Inspiratory crackles can be heard in most patients, which are most obvious at the bases of both lungs. Finger clubbing can be seen in more than one-third of patients. Pulmonary function abnormalities were mainly moderate to severe restrictive ventilation dysfunction and/or diffusion dysfunction. Laboratory tests are lack of characteristic features, and serum antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) are positive in 10% to 25% of patients.