Childhood interstitial lung disease

ABSTRACT
Childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD) is a non-specific umbrella term encompassing a broad spectrum of over 200 rare respiratory pediatric disorders. These disorders mainly affect the lung parenchyma leading to impaired alveolar gas exchange. The clinical presentation is usually non-specific. Most commonly, patients present with tachy-/dyspnea, crackles, hypoxemia, and dry cough. Clinicians should be familiar with these disorders as they are associated with high morbidity, mortality and healthcare resource utilization as well as medical costs.
Different diagnostic tools are available, while treatment options are limited. Growing data and knowledge of pathogenetic genetic variants as well as pathophysiological models increase therapeutic options for personalized treatments in chILD.

Received: June 20, 2024
Accepted: Oct 1, 2024