Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis.  2007 Sep;17(3):271-281.

Clinical Features of the 15 Patients with Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonia

• Park SH
• Ahn YH
• Han JH
• Kim JK
• Ahn KM
• Lee SI

Abstract

PURPOSE: Histologic classification plays a key role in the classification of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) into clinically meaningful categories in terms of natural history, prognosis and treatment. The implications of histological diagnosis, clinical features and prognosis in children has not been described. This study aimed to analyze the clinical features of IIP in children.
METHODS
A total of 15 patients with IIP were recruited, who had a surgical lung biopsy. The age, sex, symptoms, initial oxygen saturation, radiologic findings and clinical courses were retrospectively investigated.
RESULTS
The median age at diagnosis was 3 years. Cough (93.3%), tachypnea (86.7%) and dyspnea (80%) were the most common symptoms, and laboratory findings were nonspecific. Acute interstitial pneumonia (n=6), chronic pneumonitis of infancy (n=4) nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (n=3) were relatively common. All patients received corticosteroid therapy and the mortality rate was 26.7% (n=4).
CONCLUSION
IIP has diverse clinical features according to subtypes. Knowledge of the underlying histopathology will allow the prediction of more accurate prognosis, the decision of appropricate therapy, and the clinical investigation of novel therapeutic agents in patients with IIP.

Keyword

Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia; Biopsy; Children

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Child
Classification
Cough
Diagnosis
Dyspnea
Humans
Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias*
Lung
Lung Diseases, Interstitial
Mortality
Natural History
Oxygen
Pneumonia
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies
Tachypnea
Oxygen