Artificial Intelligence and Interstitial Lung Disease: Diagnosis and Prognosis.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is now diagnosed by an ILD-board consisting of radiologists, pulmonologists, and pathologists. They discuss the combination of computed tomography (CT) images, pulmonary function tests, demographic information, and histology and then agree on one of the 200 ILD diagnoses. Recent approaches employ computer-aided diagnostic tools to improve detection of disease, monitoring, and accurate prognostication. Methods based on artificial intelligence (AI) may be used in computational medicine, especially in image-based specialties such as radiology. This review summarises and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the latest and most significant published methods that could lead to a holistic system for ILD diagnosis. We explore current AI methods and the data use to predict the prognosis and progression of ILDs. It is then essential to highlight the data that holds the most information related to risk factors for progression, e.g., CT scans and pulmonary function tests. This review aims to identify potential gaps, highlight areas that require further research, and identify the methods that could be combined to yield more promising results in future studies

Identification of Antigenic Proteins from Lichtheimia corymbifera for Farmer's Lung Disease Diagnosis.

The use of recombinant antigens has been shown to improve both the sensitivity and the standardization of the serological diagnosis of Farmer's lung disease (FLD). The aim of this study was to complete the panel of recombinant antigens available for FLD serodiagnosis with antigens of Lichtheimia corymbifera, known to be involved in FLD. L. corymbifera proteins were thus separated by 2D electrophoresis and subjected to western blotting with sera from 7 patients with FLD and 9 healthy exposed controls (HEC). FLD-associated immunoreactive proteins were identified by mass spectrometry based on a protein database specifically created for this study and subsequently produced as recombinant antigens. The ability of recombinant antigens to discriminate patients with FLD from controls was assessed by ELISA performed with sera from FLD patients (n = 41) and controls (n = 43) recruited from five university hospital pneumology departments of France and Switzerland. Forty-one FLD-associated immunoreactive proteins from L. corymbifera were identified. Six of them were produced as recombinant antigens. With a sensitivity and specificity of 81.4 and 77.3% respectively, dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase was the most effective antigen for discriminating FLD patients from HEC. ELISA performed with the putative proteasome subunit alpha type as an antigen was especially specific (88.6%) and could thus be used for FLD confirmation. The production of recombinant antigens from L. corymbifera represents an additional step towards the development of a standardized ELISA kit for FLD diagnosis

Deep learning for identifying Lung Diseases

Growing health problems, such as lung diseases, especially for children and the elderly, require better diagnostic methods, such as computer-based solutions, and it is crucial to detect and treat these problems early. The purpose of this article is to design and implement a new computer vision-based algorithm based on lung disease diagnosis, which has better performance in lung disease recognition than previous models to reduce lung-related health problems and costs . In addition, we have improved the accuracy of the five lung diseases detection, which helps doctors and doctors use computers to solve this problem at an early stage

Interstitial lung disease in Malta

Aim: To establish the prevalence, management and response to treatment of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in Malta. Methodology: The personal files of 102 living and 26 deceased patients with ILD under the care of 4 respiratory physicians were reviewed retrospectively. The investigations utilised for reaching the diagnosis, patient management and response to treatment were analysed. Results: The prevalence of ILD was estimated at 24.9 per 100,000 population. Pulmonary function tests were performed at least once in 109 patients (n=128, 85%), and pletysmography and exercise oximetry in 36 patients (n=128, 28%). A chest x-ray (CXR) was performed in 120 patients (n=128, 93.7%), of which 8 (n=120, 6.66%) were normal, a computed tomography scan of the thorax in 113 patients (n=128, 88.3%), all of which showed fibrotic changes and a DTPA scan in 17 patients (n=128, 13.3%). Regarding more invasive investigations, bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in 10 patients (n=128, 7.8%), open lung biopsy in 4 patients (n=128, 3.1 %), video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in 4 patients (n=128, 3.1%) and transbronchial lung biopsy in 7 patients (n=128, 5.5%). Corticosteroids were the most common drugs prescribed in 64 patients (n=128, 50%) followed by azathioprine in 23 patients (n=128, 18%) and cyclophosphamide in 3 patients (n=128, 2.3%). There was a definite worsening in lung function associated with increasing age. There was no standardisation of follow up for these patients. Conclusion: The method of diagnosis, management and follow up of patients with ILD locally requires improvement to optimise standards of care and hence compare with proposed international guidelines.peer-reviewe

Psychiatric disorder and quality of life in patients awaiting lung transplantation

Study objective: To examine the relationship between psychiatric comorbidity and quality of life in patients awaiting lung transplantation. Setting: Duke University Medical Center/Lung Transplantation Program. Participants: One hundred patients with end-stage pulmonary disease listed for lung transplantation. Measurements and results: Twenty-five percent (n = 25) of the sample met diagnostic criteria for at least one current mood of anxiety disorder. Controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, percentage of predicted FEV, and lung disease diagnosis, patients with a current psychiatric diagnosis reported poorer general quality of life (p < 0.0001), poorer disease-specific quality of life (p < 0.0001), greater shortness of breath (p = 0.01), more symptoms of psychological distress (p < 0.0001), lower levels of social support (p < 0.0001), and fewer positive health habits (p < 0.04) than their counterparts without a psychiatric diagnosis. Conclusions: Psychiatric comorbidity affects a significant portion of patients awaiting lung transplantation and is associated with decreased health-related quality of life