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Weighing Risks and Benefits of Laparoscopic Anti-Reflux Surgery in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (WRAP-IPF-BioLINCC)

Data Access NOTE: Please refer to the "Authorized Access" section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions.

Objectives: To determine if the reduction of abnormal gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) with laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery will slow the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as measured by forced vital capacity (FVC).

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive lung disease of unknown cause and increasing prevalence in the United States. Aside from lung transplantation, which approximately only 1% of participants will receive, there is no FDA-approved therapy. Abnormal acid gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) has been well described in participants with IPF and is thought to play a role in the progression of the disease. The several retrospective cohort studies that have assessed the association of anti-acid therapies for GER with clinical outcomes in IPF have had inconsistent results.

Participants: A total of 58 participants were enrolled.

Design: The WRAP-IPF trial was a multicenter, unblinded randomized clinical trial with participants randomized to either laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery or no surgery. Participants in the no-surgery group had the option of receiving laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery from 24 weeks after randomization if their clinician deemed it medically necessary. Medications for acid GER were allowed in both groups if the clinician felt it was necessary.

Participants were followed up from time of randomization to 52 weeks. All participants had study visits at baseline, 12, 24, 36, and 48 weeks, during which spirometry, 6-min walk testing, and participant-related outcome assessments were done. Participants in the surgery group had clinical visits for preoperative evaluation, laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery, and postoperative management as clinically indicated. Surgery participants additionally underwent repeat 24-hour pH testing at 24 weeks to assess the efficacy of the surgery. All participants were contacted by telephone for safety assessments at weeks 4, 8, 16, 20, 28, 32, 40, 44, and 52. All participants completed an exploratory questionnaire on reflux symptoms at baseline and 48 weeks.

The primary endpoint was change in FVC from randomization (baseline) to 48 weeks. Secondary endpoints included acute exacerbation, non-elective hospitalization (both all-cause and respiratory-related), death, change in cough severity, change in dyspnea severity, change in health-related quality of life, change in 6-min walk distance, and time to selected event-driven composite endpoints of disease progression.

Conclusions: In participants with IPF and abnormal acid GER, laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery is safe and well tolerated but did not significantly slow the rate of FVC decline. Further research is needed, particularly with a larger study in order to achieve sufficient statistical power, regarding the possible benefits of anti-reflux surgery in this population.

Raghu G, Pellegrini CA, Yow E, et al. Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (WRAP-IPF): a multicentre, randomised, controlled phase 2 trial.

Reference: Raghu, et al., 2018; PMID: 30100404.