Causes of Interstitial Lung Diseases
Type | Examples |
|---|---|
Autoimmune disorders | Autoimmune myositis/anti-synthetase syndrome, Goodpasture syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, Sjögren syndrome, and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) |
Organic dust | Bird droppings and molds |
Drug-related | Amiodarone, bleomycin, busulfan, carbamazepine, checkpoint inhibitors, chlorambucil, cocaine, cyclophosphamide, gold, methotrexate, nitrofurantoin, sulfasalazine, and sulfonamides |
Chemical-related | Aluminum powder, asbestos, beryllium, metals, sulfur dioxide, talc |
Genetic disorders | Fabry disease, familial pulmonary fibrosis, Gaucher disease, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, neurofibromatosis, Niemann-Pick disease (rare), pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, and 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 |
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, and granulomatosis with polyangiitis |
* Idiopathic means with no known cause. | |