The clinical respiratory journal
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Prognostic factors of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) currently recognized include changes in vital capacity and radiologic findings. However, most of the prognostic studies in IPF are based on clinical studies with preselected IPF populations. Therefore, we decided to analyze the factors influencing IPF prognosis based on the real-practice data from our IPF registry. ⋯ DLCO changes over time were shown as a better predictor of mortality compared with FVC changes in our study. In our opinion it is necessary to implement the DLCO analysis into clinical trials and routine practice.