[Interstitial lung diseases].
Interstitial lung diseases comprise a heterogeneous group of about 200 entities. In the classification of these diseases, diffuse parenchymal lung diseases with known cause, granulomatous diseases, and other specific interstitial lung diseases are separated from the important group of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, which are classified according to the 2002 ATS/ERS consensus classification. Concerning the histological pattern, this classification differentiates between "usual interstitial pneumonia" (UIP), "nonspecific interstitial pneumonia" (NSIP), "organising pneumonia" (COP), "diffuse alveolar damage" (DAD), "respiratory bronchiolitis" (RB), "desquamative interstitial pneumonia" (DIP), "lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia" (LIP) and "unclassifiable interstitial pneumonias". A key message of this classification is that the pathologist will give the diagnosis of a histological pattern, whereas the final clinicopathologic diagnosis can be made only by the clinical pulmonologist after careful correlation with the clinical and radiologic features, which is essential in the diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases.