Common Interstitial Pneumonias

The interstitial pneumonias consist of pathologic patterns of injury that involve the alveolar septa and associated connective tissue of the lung. These pathologies are commonly found within characteristic clinical settings and have predictable prognoses and some have specific therapies. In general, these pathologic patterns of injury have nonspecific fibroinflammatory features when seen in small biopsies, but have characteristic features when viewed in the context of larger (thoracoscopic) biopsies and are most accurately diagnosed in the setting of a multidisciplinary approach employing clinical, radiologic, and pathologic input.