Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia overview

Interstitial Lung Disease
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Patient Information
Overview
Classification Fibrosis lung response Occupational lung disease Drug-induced lung injury Radiation-induced lung injury Smoking related interstitial lung disease Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis Lymphocytic infiltrative disorders Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis Pulmonary hemorrhage syndromes Interstitial lung disease associated with systemic diseases Granulomatous lung response
Pathophysiology
Differentiating Interstitial Lung Disease from other Diseases
Laboratory Finidngs

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ahmed Zaghw, M.D. [2]

Overview

The idiopathic interstitial pneumonias are a broad range of interstitial lung diseases of unknown etiology characterized by expansion of the interstitial compartment initially by inflammatory cells ending by fibrosis due to fibroblasts proliferation and subsequent collagen deposition. It generally manifests non specifically as breathlessness and/or cough and characterized by bilateral abnormal opacities of various types on conventional chest radiographs or computed tomographic (CT) scans.