Pulmonary Fibrosis Paid Clinical Trials in Alabama

Acute exacerbations (AE) are a dreaded manifestation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) that presents with rapidly worsening respiratory function over days to weeks. AE account for about 1/2 the deaths in IPF patients, and are refractory to all medical therapies attempted to date. Considerable preliminary data shows pathological B-cell abnormalities and autoantibodies are present in AE-IPF and associated with disease severity. The experimental therapy here (therapeutic plasma exchange plus rituximab plus intravenous immunoglobulin) is mechanistically targeted to ameliorate autoantibody-mediated pulmonary injury. Anecdotal pilot studies indicate these treatments have significant benefit for a disease syndrome that has, until now, been almost invariably inexorable. This clinical trial has the potential to profoundly affect current paradigms and treatment approaches to patients with AE-IPF. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to see if imaging with fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F] FDG) and fluorine-18 Displacement Per Atom ([18F]DPA-714) using positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) will show lung inflammation and fibrosis in patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This study may help physicians and researchers better understand how best to treat patients with IPF in the future. Read Less