Interstitial Lung Disease Center

The Rhode Island Hospital Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Center specializes in providing compassionate, comprehensive care to patients with interstitial lung diseases.

We take a state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary approach to ILDs, relying on a team of experienced pulmonologists, thoracic radiologists, pulmonary pathologists and thoracic surgeons to provide the most accurate diagnosis and best treatment plan for each individual patient.

Interstitial Lung Diseases

Interstitial lung diseases are a large, heterogeneous group of diseases in which normal lung tissue is replaced by varying amounts of inflammation and/or scarring (fibrosis). The resulting loss of lung function can lead to difficult or labored breathing and a decrease in exercise tolerance.

There are well over 100 distinct ILDs and, while the causes for some of these have been identified, for many others, the exact causes remain unknown.

Types of Interstitial Lung Diseases

Interstitial lung diseases include the following:

• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
• Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP)
• Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) / bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP)
• Connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (e.g., ILDs associated with rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, polymyositis and dermatomyositis, Sjogren’s syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus)
• Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
• Asbestosis
• Sarcoidosis
• Eosinophilic pneumonia
• Drug-induced interstitial lung disease
• Langerhans cell histiocytosis
• Desquamative interstitial pneumonia
• Respiratory bronchiolitis-interstitial lung disease
• Lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia
• Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)
• Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis