Underlying and immediate causes of death in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Table 5 Causes of death according to the GAP stage

	GAP I (n = 67)	GAP II (n = 47)	GAP III (n = 12)	p-value^a
Deaths N (%)	57 (85.1)	42 (93.3)	12 (100)	0.455
Underlying cause of death
IPF	41 (71.9)	24 (57.1)	10 (83.3)	0.140
Pneumonia		3 (7.1)		0.079
Ischemic heart disease	10 (17.5)	6 (14.3)	1 (8.3)	0.703
Lung cancer	3 (5.3)	3 (7.1)	1 (8.3)	0.888
Pulmonary embolism	1 (1.8)			0.620
Colon cancer	2 (3.5)			0.381
COPD		1 (2.4)		0.437
Other^b		5 (11.9)
Immediate cause of death
IPF	28 (49.1)	17 (40.5)	7 (58.3)	0.487
Pneumonia	10 (17.5)	11 (26.2)	3 (25.0)	0.561
Ischemic heart disease	3 (5.3)	3 (7.1)		0.440
Heart failure^c	4 (7.1)	3 (7.1)		0.636
Lung cancer	2 (3.5)	2 (4.8)	1 (8.3)	0.761
Pulmonary embolism	1 (1.8)			0.620
Colon cancer	2 (3.5)			0.381
Other^d		4 (9.5)
Exacerbations preceding death
Acute exacerbation	6 (10.2)	3 (7.1)	2 (16.7)	0.610
Suspected acute exacerbation^e	10 (16.9)	14 (33.3)	5 (41.7)	0.072

p-values calculated using Fisher test
GAP Gender-Age-Physiology stage, IPF idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
^ap-value between different GAP-stages
^bSick sinus syndrome (N = 1), cerebral infarction (N = 1), aortic rupture (N = 1), ileum strangulation (N = 1), heart failure (N = 1), drowning (N = 1)
^cFor any reason, including cor pulmonale; ^d Cerebral infarction (N = 1), aortic arteriosclerosis (N = 1), ileum strangulation (N = 1), hypotension (N = 1), respiratory failure due to COPD (N = 1), drowning (N = 1)
^eNo HRCT confirmation

ISSN: 1471-2466