Canadian Medical Guide > Diseases > Respiratory Tract Diseases > Lung Diseases > Lung Diseases, Interstitial Terms and Definitions

Lung Diseases, Interstitial

Medical Definition:	A heterogeneous group of noninfectious, nonmalignant disorders of the lower respiratory tract, affecting primarily the alveolar wall structures but also often involving the small airways and blood vessels of the lung parenchyma. "Interstitial" refers to the fact that the interstitium of the alveolar walls is thickened, usually by fibrosis. This group of diseases is usually inflammatory. (Dorland, 27th ed; Wyngarden, Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed, p396)
Guide Notes:	GEN or unspecified; prefer specifics; DF: LUNG DIS INTERSTITIAL
Also Called:	Pneumonitis, Interstitial
Previously Indexed:	Pulmonary Fibrosis (1966-1993)

Lung Diseases, Interstitial Categories.

	Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic - Conditions in which inhalation of organic dusts results in hypersensitivity reactions at the alveolar level, associated with the production of precipitins.
	Goodpasture Syndrome - A combination of pulmonary hemorrhage and glomerulonephritis. It is known also as the lung purpura glomerulonephritis complex. It is considered by some to be a form of hypersensitivity reaction.
	Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell - Group of disorders of histiocyte proliferation which includes LETTERER-SIWE DISEASE; HAND-SCHUELLER-CHRISTIAN SYNDROME; and EOSINOPHILIC GRANULOMA. Langerhans cells are components of the lesions.
	Pneumoconiosis - Condition characterized by permanent deposition of substantial amounts of particulate matter in the lungs, usually of occupational or environmental origin, and by the tissue reaction to its presence.
	Pulmonary Fibrosis - Chronic inflammation and progressive fibrosis of the pulmonary alveolar walls, with steadily progressive dyspnea, resulting finally in death from oxygen lack or right heart failure.
	Radiation Pneumonitis - Injurious effects of radiotherapy on the lungs. There are three phases in the reaction of the lungs to radiation injury: an acute phase occurring 1 to 2 months after exposure, a subacute phase 2 to 9 months after exposure, and a chronic or fibrotic phase more than 9 months after exposure. In the acute phase there is vascular damage, congestion, edema, and mononuclear cell infiltration; in the subacute phase the alveolar walls are infiltrated with mononuclear inflammatory cells and fibroblasts; in the chronic phase, alveolar fibrosis and capillary sclerosis take place. (Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed, p2343)
	Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary - Sarcoidosis affecting predominantly the lungs, the site most frequently involved and most commonly causing morbidity and mortality in sarcoidosis. Pulmonary sarcoidosis is characterized by sharply circumscribed granulomas in the alveolar, bronchial, and vascular walls, composed of tightly packed cells derived from the mononuclear phagocyte system. The clinical symptoms when present are dyspnea upon exertion, nonproductive cough, and wheezing. (Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed, p431)
	Wegener's Granulomatosis - A multisystem disease chiefly affecting males, characterized by necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis involving the upper and lower respiratory tracts, glomerulonephritis, and variable degrees of systemic, small vessel vasculitis, which is generally considered to represent an aberrant hypersensitivity reaction to an unknown antigen. (Dorland, 27th ed)

Lung Diseases, Interstitial Medical Definitions and Terms

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