Can you be part of the ILDER ( Interstitial Lung Disease -Eastern Region)
Despite being a common clinical problem in Saudi Arabia , the interstitial lung diseases remain confused and confusion to many physicians and the assessment and treatment is heterogenous and doesn't conform to the guidelines.
We lack the epidemiology in Saudi Arabia to make informed decisions about the conditions.
Most of the work related to the ILD remains to be collection of case reports and reviews. Dr AlHammad in King Saud University has written some papers which are more informative but can't not be generalised to the wider population . of note is the recent publication from the group in the west of Saudi Arabia ( Madina and Jeddah ) reporting on some aspects of the ILD.
As a group practising in the eastern region , where the ILD would be common and reflect the combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental interplay, we need to study the prevalence of ILD in our region .Followed by more structured studies to look at aetiology and prognosis .
I suggest the establishment of the ILDER group to reflect the group attending the STS-ERCC and the aim is to do a cross sectional study to assess the patterns of ILD and the demographics and patients characteristics.
I have already discussed with Dr Nawal and we are willing to take suggestions and share plans to establish the group.
It will be helpful if each hospital nominated one person to be member of the committee starting up this project
contact me at: abella@uod.eu.sa
