SYMPTOMS AND CLINICAL FEATURES

The most common symptoms of ILDs are dyspnea and cough.14

Other clinical features include:14-18

  • Fatigue
  • Crackles on auscultation
  • Restrictive pattern on pulmonary function tests (PFTs)
    • Patients can have other pathologies that could result in mixed or sometimes pure obstructive patterns
  • Diffuse lung infiltration on chest imaging

DIAGNOSIS

Patients with known or suspected autoimmune disease who present with dyspnea, cough, or crackles on chest exam should undergo workup (e.g., high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), PFTs)3

  • Patients with autoimmune ILD may have subclinical or asymptomatic lung involvement but ILD can often be detected on HRCT or via PFTs4

Most autoimmune ILDs commonly present as nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP).9

  • The primary exception is RA, which is characterized by a higher frequency of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP).9

See also

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Interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis with a focus on chest CT

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