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
cocaine
Chemical-related
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.