Interstitial Lung Disease
Interstitial lung disease, or ILD, is an umbrella term that encompasses 130 to 200 chronic noncancerous and noninfectious lung disorders. Other terms or descriptors of this group of diseases include interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary fibrosis.
These diseases share a common feature of dysfunction at the interface between the air sacs and blood supply of the lung. ILD is typically associated with symptoms like chronic cough and shortness of breath. The clinical course of ILD varies widely. Determining the specific type of interstitial lung disease is essential in order to predict prognosis and outline appropriate therapies. The Interstitial Lung Disease Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center provides comprehensive evaluations and treatment for all ILDs.
Subtypes
Although there are almost 200 potential forms of ILD, the vast majority (95 percent) will fall into one of the following categories:
Autoimmune disease – People with autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and polymyositis can develop ILD, and sometimes the ILD is the initial manifestation. Other patients have some autoimmune features but do not meet established criteria for diagnosis with one of those well recognized conditions.
Inhalation exposures – A large number of inhaled substances can cause ILD, including tobacco smoke, asbestos, silica, and bioaerosols.
Medications – A large number of medications can cause ILD. The most common are chemotherapeutic agents, some antiarrythmic drugs and long term use of certain antibiotics.
Granulomatous diseases – These diseases cause a type of inflammation in the lung called granulomas. Sarcoidosis is the most common of these disorders, followed by hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonia – The cause for these diseases is unknown. The most common one in this category is Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis or IPF.
Genetic – For some individuals pulmonary fibrosis runs in families due to an inherited genetic mutation.