Abstract
In 2001, the introduction of multidisciplinary evaluation to international guidelines for the diagnosis of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias signalled a major change in the diagnostic process in diffuse lung disease. Over the past two decades, multidisciplinary diagnosis (MDD) has become the diagnostic reference standard in this field, undertaken in all expert centres and increasingly introduced in routine practice outside of referral units.
In a White Paper proposing updated diagnostic criteria for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the Fleischner society endorses the formulation of a multidisciplinary diagnosis of IPF, even in the absence of definitive radiological or histopathological findings. Because this position statement has reinforced the central role of MDD, it is timely to consider whether this diagnostic approach can be validated and how standards of diagnosis can be maintained, both at expert centres and elsewhere.