Causes of Interstitial Lung Diseases
Type |
Examples |
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Autoimmune disorders |
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Infections |
Fungal, mycoplasmal (a type of bacterial infection, including tuberculosis), parasitic, rickettsial, or viral infections |
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Organic dust |
Bird droppings and molds |
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Drug-related |
Amiodarone, bleomycin, busulfan, carbamazepine, chlorambucil, cocaine, cyclophosphamide, gold, methotrexate, nitrofurantoin, sulfasalazine, and sulfonamides |
|
Chemical-related |
Aluminum powder, asbestos, beryllium, metals, sulfur dioxide, talc |
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Genetic disorders |
Fabry disease, familial pulmonary fibrosis, Gaucher disease, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, neurofibromatosis, Niemann-Pick disease (rare), pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, tuberous sclerosis |
|
Idiopathic* interstitial pneumonias |
Acute interstitial pneumonia, cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, desquamative interstitial pneumonia, idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lymphoid interstitial pneumonia, nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, and respiratory bronchiolitis-associated interstitial lung disease |
|
Therapeutic or industrial radiation-related |
Radiation therapy for cancer |
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Other disorders |
Amyloidosis, chronic aspiration, eosinophilic pneumonia, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, sarcoidosis, and vasculitic disorders (which cause inflammation of blood vessels) such as eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Takayasu arteritis, and granulomatosis with polyangiitis |
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* Idiopathic means with no known cause. |
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