Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Diseases: CAR/CSTR Practice Guidelines for HRCT Diagnosis

Fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (fILD) are a heterogeneous group of chronic diseases that require clinical, radiological and pathological correlation for diagnosis and management. In this setting, the role of radiologists is to define the ILD pattern using high-resolution CT (HRCT). These practice guidelines, developed by the Canadian Society of Thoracic Radiology (CSTR) and the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR), provide evidence-informed recommendations to assist practicing radiologists in standardizing HRCT acquisition and pattern recognition in fILD. Based on an integration of current evidence and expert consensus, it outlines core knowledge for identifying features of fibrosis and ancillary radiological findings that assist on pattern identification, providing a practical framework to imaging diagnosis. The document includes multidisciplinary correlation for the diagnosis of most common fibrotic ILDs and an updated review of specific clinical diagnoses relevant to the radiology practice.