Table: Comparing Types Of Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias* - Merck Manuals Consumer Version

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Comparing Types Of Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias*

Comparing Types Of Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias*

Disorder	People Most Often Affected	Percentage of Affected People Who Smoke Cigarettes	Treatment	Outlook
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis	More frequently, men over 50	More than 60%	Pulmonary rehabilitation Lung transplantation Pirfenidone or nintedanib	50–70% die in 5 years.
Desquamative interstitial pneumonia	More frequently, men aged 30–50	More than 90%	Smoking cessation Corticosteroids	5% die in 5 years.
Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia	More frequently, women aged 40–60	Fewer than 40%	Corticosteroids	Fewer than 50% die in 5 years.
Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia	People of any age, usually aged 40–50	Fewer than 50%	Corticosteroids	Two thirds completely recover, but the disorder recurs in many. Death is rare.
Respiratory bronchiolitis–associated interstitial lung disease	People aged 30–50 (slightly more men)	More than 90%	Smoking cessation Corticosteroids	Death is rare.
Acute interstitial pneumonia	People of any age	Unknown	Best treatment unknown	60% die in less than 6 months.
Lymphoid interstitial pneumonia	Mostly women of any age	Unknown	Corticosteroids	The prognosis is difficult to predict.
Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis	People of any age (median age 57)	Usually non-smokers	Best treatment unknown (possibly corticosteroids)	Disease progresses in 60% of people.
* In decreasing order of frequency.