Hong Kong Respiratory Medicine

Gregory P. Downey. N Engl J Med 2011; 365:1140-1141September 22, 2011

Fibrosis, or scarring, of the lung is a common consequence of certain types of pneumonias, and in such cases it is a localized and self-limited process. However, in conditions such as the complex group of disorders termed the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, pulmonary fibrosis may be a progressive and diffuse process.¹ The current classification scheme for idiopathic interstitial pneumonias is based on a combination of clinical, histopathological, and radiographic features.¹ The idiopathic interstitial pneumonias may be related to an underlying connective-tissue disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis or scleroderma, or they may be caused by unknown factors, in which case the disease . . .

Weblink here