Spectrum of Interstitial Lung Disease at Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a family of lung diseases characterized by inflammation and scarring of the lung tissue, alveolar walls, alveolar ducts, and bronchioles. The nature of such diseases is rather diverse, and they can be caused by any number of factors of manifest different progression patterns; thus, correct diagnosis is crucial here. To compare the range of ILDs among patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Lahore.
METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study recruited 149 patients (121 male and 30 female) with suspected ILD using a convenient sampling technique from General Hospital Lahore. These symptoms were cough in 99 patients, shortness of breath in 112 patients and smoking in 97 patients. The diagnosis was done using HRCT through a Toshiba Aquiline 64 Slice CT scanner.

RESULTS: Out of the 149 patients, 99 had cough, 112 had short breath, and 97 were smokers. The HRCT results showed that the middle right lung lobe was involved in 44%, the upper lung zone in 52% and the lower lung zone
in 53% of smokers. There was a slight increase in Septal thickening (33%) and focal to moderate honeycombing (35%) in the upper left lobe. The ages ranged from 48 to 73 years.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study show that ILDs are more prevalent in females as compared to males. The common symptoms of ILDs are similar to tuberculosis, which suggests that the disease remains grossly unrecognized and underdiagnosed. Some drugs, including chemotherapeutic agents and anti-inflammatory drugs, have been found to induce the formation of ILD.