Prognosis
Untreated DPB leads to bronchiectasis, respiratory failure, and death. A journal report from 1983 indicated that untreated DPB had a five-year survival rate of 62.1%, while the 10-year survival rate was 33.2%. With erythromycin treatment, individuals with DPB now have a much longer life expectancy due to better management of symptoms, delay of progression, and prevention of associated infections like P. aeruginosa. The 10-year survival rate for treated DPB is about 90%. In DPB cases where treatment has resulted in significant improvement, which sometimes happens after about two years, treatment has been allowed to end for a while. However, individuals allowed to stop treatment during this time are closely monitored. As DPB has been proven to recur, erythromycin therapy must be promptly resumed once disease symptoms begin to reappear. In spite of the improved prognosis when treated, DPB currently has no known cure.
Read more about this topic: Diffuse Panbronchiolitis