Prognostic value of honeycombing on initial HRCT of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in older people

We retrospectively analyzed the prognostic value of honeycombing on HRCT at the first medical examination of patients aged 75 years or older with interstitial pneumonia. In line with the CT atlas of honeycomb lung established by Sakai et al., we classified honey-combing into four categories. Our result showed that patients having typical or untypical honeycomb lung had a poorer prognosis compared with those with non-honeycomb lung. The honeycombing on HRCT can be a useful predictor of the prognosis in elderly patients with interstitial pneumonia who are generally not suitable for surgical lung biopsy.