Lung Function and Symptoms in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Treated with High-Flow Nasal Therapy for 1 Year

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive disease that subverts the normal structure of the lungs and finally causes respiratory failure. High-flow nasal therapy (HFNT) is currently used in the acute setting for IPF with acute respiratory failure. Also, acute exacerbation of IPF and end-stage disease are common indications. Chronic cough is often an unmet need in IPF because it is partially responsive to common pharmacological treatment. Moreover, opioids have known adverse events. The aim of this paper was to investigate the effects and safety of chronic HFNT on lung function and symptoms of IPF.

This is a single-center case-control study including patients affected by IPF. We included 35 adult patients with a consistent radiological diagnosis of IPF, clinical history of lung function decline, and high prevalence of symptoms. All patients received the standard of treatment, particularly including antifibrotic drugs and conventional oxygen therapy (COT). Eighteen subjects were assigned to additional treatment with HFNT for 12 months.

No significant differences were observed after the follow-up with HFNT in terms of lung function. The mean forced vital capacity (FVC) was 1.89 ± 0.73 L with HFNT and 2.43 ± 0.87 L without HFNT (p = 0.09). The mean FVC decline per year was 190 mL with HFNT versus 200 mL with standard of care. The mean DLCO % of predicted was 28.86 ± 14.51% with HFNT and 36.03 ± 19.18% with COT (p = 0.276). No significant impact was observed on dyspnea; the mean Borg scale value was 6.72 ± 2.22 after HFNT and 7.14 with COT (p = 0.56). The score for cough significantly improved after treatment with a mean score in the HFNT group being 46.67 ± 10.85 versus 73.8 ± 18.43 (p < 0.0001) with standard of care.

Long-term HFNT significantly reduces chronic cough in patients affected by IPF compared to COT. Lung function including FVC and DLCO is not significatively influenced.