h3Definition/h3pChildhood interstitial lung disease (chILD) includes a range of rare disorders of the lung parenchyma (and, sometimes, airways) that have certain clinical features in common. Specific conditions within chILD include surfactant protein B or C deficiency, alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of lung veins, pulmonary interstitial glycogenosis, neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, eosinophilic pneumonia, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, alveolar proteinosis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, sarcoidosis, lung alveolar proteinosis, and Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis. chILD may complicate other disorders including inflammatory bowel disease and liver disease. In many children with chILD, no specific diagnosis can be made./ph3Key messages/h3pThink about chILD if a child has chronic, unremitting tachypnoea, retractions, crackles and failure to thrive. Symptoms of early chILD are very unspecific and may be missed unless there is a high level of suspicion./ppRefer the patient to a specialist centre in paediatric pulmonology./ppFollow your patient longitudinally in collaboration with the reference centre, and be alert to comorbidities, complications of disease or treatment, or signs of recurrent or worsening lung disease./p
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