Example of interstitial disease, interstitial pneumonia recognizes various causes: it can be an autoimmune disease; it may be the consequence of radiation therapy for lung or breast cancer; it can be the result of taking chemotherapy, antiarrhythmic or antibiotic drugs; it can be the result of prolonged exposure to toxic dust for the lungs; finally, it can depend on the action of certain infectious agents, such as the coronavirus responsible for COVID- 19.
Interstitial pneumonia typically presents with symptoms such as dyspnoea, dry cough, fatigue and, if due to an infectious agent, fever,
In general, the following are essential for the diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia: anamnesis, physical examination, laboratory tests (if the cause is a pathogen), evaluation of respiratory function, chest x-ray and chest CT scan.
Treatment of interstitial pneumonia varies according to the underlying cause and the severity of the symptoms.
Interstitial pneumonia represents an "interstitial disease, which is a disease of the pulmonary interstitium.
In medicine, the term "pneumonia" indicates the "inflammation of mostly infectious origin of the lungs and possibly also of the respiratory tracts connected to the lungs (ie bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli).
