Interstitial Lung Disease in any process that allows increase scar tissue to be deposited within the functioning lung tissues. Think of this process as thickening the lung tissue while the opposite, destruction and air trapping, could be said for obstructive type diseases( COPD). There are many identified and some unidentified triggers for this process. Currently there is now treatment for chronic scar deposition with in the lung except for lung transplant in severe cases. The active process of inflammation before chronic scar tissue is deposited does hold some current therapy options as well as an active area of intense research.
Identifying patients with early “active alveolitis” is the ideal time to discuss aggressive treatment options. This process can be theoretically controlled by slowing the modulators of inflammation at various times with the in the collagen deposition time scale. No one treatment has proven superior, but some modulation with prednisone and/or prednisone sparing drugs has proved worthwhile in various sub groups of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Oxygen ambulation testing, pulmonary function testing and CT scan (HRCT) of the lung can be useful screening tools. Some cases require and Open lung biopsy for better categorizing and more detailed treatment options.
1. American Thoracic Society. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: diagnosis and treatment. International Consensus Statement. American Thoracic Society (ATS), and the European Respiratory Society (ERS). Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2000;161:646-664.