In vivo microscopic assessment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using endobronchial optical coherence tomography: a prospective diagnostic study

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal form of fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD). Early diagnosis of IPF is essential, but often requires invasive surgery. We conduct a prospective study evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of endobronchial optical coherence tomography (EB-OCT) for IPF diagnosis as compared to concurrent surgical lung biopsy (SLB) and clinical follow-up diagnosis. EB-OCT was performed immediately prior to SLB in 27 ILD patients. EB-OCT was 100% sensitive and 100% specific for both histologic and clinical follow up diagnosis of IPF. The results demonstrate the potential of EB-OCT as minimally-invasive, low-risk in vivo method for microscopic IPF diagnosis.