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Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by inflammation and/or fibrosis.1 Pulmonary fibrosis develops due to repeated cycles of injury and impaired repair with fibroblast activation and migration with the resultant deposition of extracellular matrix components.2,3 This injury may be mediated by environmental, infectious or immune-mediated pathways. Over time, these pathways can become […]

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) frequently complicates rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 Moreover, it is more common among those who are male, smoke or are seropositive and with increasing age.1 Emergent risk factors include gain-of-function promoter variants in the MUC5B gene and telomere shortening,2 the latter possibly mediated by tobacco exposure.3 Among patients with RA, the predominant types of ILD are usual interstitial […]

Dr Paula K Skarda is a hospitalist and primary internist and works for HealthPartners and Regions Hospital in Minnesota, USA. She has been in practice for 25 years after graduating from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completing the MedPeds residency there. Dr Skarda works as an Associate Program Director for the University of […]

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are disorders with predominantly chronic inflammatory airway features. They are increasingly recognized as entities on a heterogeneous obstructive airway disease continuum with distinct phenotypes, various degrees of overlap, and the predominance of asthma in some individuals and COPD in others.1 In asthma, chronic inflammation is driven by aberrant […]

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammation and fibrosis of the skin and other organs. It has a range of clinical manifestations, and the typical internal organs involved include the lungs, kidneys, heart, and gastrointestinal tract. Though it is an uncommon condition, the mortality rate of this disease is higher than any […]

  Highlights Nocardiosis is has been coined “the great imitator” due to the vast heterogeneity in clinical presentation. Prevalence of disease is on the rise due to improved diagnostic techniques, as well as a growing population of immunocompromised patients, although up to one-third of patients diagnosed are immunocompetent. There are six forms of disease caused […]

  Highlights Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), though rare, can be fatal and requires a high index of suspicion as frank hemoptysis may not be a presenting symptom. Multilobar pneumonia can simulate DAH both clinically and radiographically. Diagnosis relies on a strong clinical suspicion, laboratory studies, imaging, and pathology. Overall incidence of DAH is difficult to […]

Pulmonary infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasing in prevalence, and impose a significant health and economic burden. There are around 150 species of NTM, which are ubiquitous in the environment, and infections are transmitted by environmental spread, particularly from soil and water.1 In an expert interview, Dr Ali discusses risk factors for and […]