Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD): Causes

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) can develop from a variety of sources, ranging from other diseases to environmental factors. Some of the known causes of ILD include:

• Connective Tissue or Autoimmune Disease

  • Scleroderma / Progressive systemic sclerosis

  • Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus)

  • Rheumatoid arthritis

  • Polymyositis / Dermatomyositis

• Occupational and Environmental Exposures

  • Inorganic dust (asbestos, silica, hard metals)

  • Organic dust (bacteria, animal proteins)

  • Gases, fumes

• Drugs and Poisons

  • Chemotherapy medications

  • Antibiotics (this is rare)

  • Radiation therapy

• Infections

  • Residue of active infection of any type, or ongoing chronic infections.

Some ILDs, though we know a lot about them and how they affect patients, have no known cause. These conditions are termed "idiopathic" (idiopathic meaning "of unknown cause"). Some examples of these include:

• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

• Idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonitis

• Acute interstitial pneumonia

• Sarcoidosis 

This information has been approved by Kevin Brown, MD (January 2005).