The epidemiology of interstitial lung diseases.

Abstract

Little epidemiologic data are available on the occurrence of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) in the general population. To describe the prevalence and incidence of ILDs a population-based registry of patients with ILDs was established in Bernalillo County, New Mexico in October 1988. All patients 18 yr of age and older who had a clinical diagnosis of an ILD were identified during the period 10/1/88 through 9/30/90 from physician referrals, hospital discharge diagnoses, histopathology reports, and death certificates. In addition, the prevalence of preclinical or undiagnosed cases was identified by screening lung specimens from 510 autopsy cases. A total of 2,936 referrals were screened; 8.8% were prevalent cases and 6.9% were incident cases. Overall, the prevalence of ILDs was 20% higher in males (80.9 per 100,000) than in females (67.2 per 100,000). Similarly the overall incidence of ILDs was slightly more common in males (31.5 per 100,000/year) than females (26.1 per 100,000/year). The estimated prevalence of preclinical or undiagnosed ILDs among all deaths was 1.8%. The most common incident diagnosed among both sexes were pulmonary fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, together accounting for 46.2% of all ILD diagnoses in males and 44.2% in females. We conclude that the occurrence of ILDs in the general population may be more common than previous estimates based on selected populations, and these disorders may frequently be unrecognized.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis

“…In a population-based study, the estimated annual incidence of interstitial lung diseases was 30 per 100 000 (6). In that study, HP accounted for less than 2% of the incident cases.…”

Environmental, Inhaled and Ingested Causes of Pulmonary Fibrosis

“…The reasons include the vast number of possible agents that potentially cause pulmonary fibrosis Jacobs et al, 2002Jacobs et al, , 2005Attfield and Wood, 2004), the latency period from the time of exposure to the time of recognition, a lack of standardized diagnostic criteria, differences in the ability and/or vigilance of the physician to obtain a thorough exposure history, the lack of standardized means of characterizing and collecting data (Green, 2002). Nonetheless, some epidemiological data in the United States indicates the prevalence of occupational pulmonary fibrosis to be 14% while the incidence was reported as 12% (Coultas et al, 1994). The European Registry suggests a prevalence of 4-18% of occupational pulmonary fibrosis and an incidence of 13-19% (Thomeer et al, 2001).…”

CCR2-Mediated Recruitment of Fibrocytes to the Alveolar Space after Fibrotic Injury

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] In animals, the disease process can be modeled via the intratracheal administration of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). 7,8 Soluble monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (CCL2) levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid peak by day 1 after FITC and remain elevated until day 7; 8 matrix-bound CCL2 is bioactive and evident through day 21 after FITC.…”