Pulmonary function impairment in patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema with and without airflow obstruction

Yoshiaki Kitaguchi,1,2 Keisaku Fujimoto,3 Masayuki Hanaoka,1 Takayuki Honda,4 Junichi Hotta,2 Jiro Hirayama2 1First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, 2Department of Internal Medicine, Okaya City Hospital, Okaya, 3Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, 4Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan Background: The syndrome of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) is a recently described entity associating upper-lobe emphysema and lower-lobe fibrosis. We sought to evaluate differences in pulmonary function between CPFE patients with and without airflow obstruction. Subjects and methods: Thirty-one CPFE patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of irreversible airflow obstruction based on spirometry (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity