Other diagnostic tests are useful in excluding other similar conditions, but history, X-ray, and biopsy are essential. These other tests may include basic blood work, blood cultures, and bronchoalveolar lavage. The clinical picture is similar to ARDS, but AIP differs from ARDS in that the cause for AIP is not known. Treatment
Treatment is primarily supportive. Management in an intensive care unit is required and the need for mechanical ventilation is common. Therapy with corticosteroids is generally attempted, though their usefulness has not been established. The only treatment that has met with success to date is a lung transplant. Prognosis
Sixty percent of people with acute interstitial pneumonitis will die in the first six months of illness. The median survival is 1+1⁄2 months. However, most people who have one episode do not have a second. People who survive often recover lung function completely. Epidemiology
Acute interstitial pneumonitis occurs most frequently among people older than forty years old. It affects men and women equally. There are no known risk factors; in particular, smoking is not associated with increased risk. History
Acute interstitial pneumonitis was first described in 1935 by Louis Hamman and Arnold Rich, and given the name Hamman–Rich syndrome. References
External links

synd/3010 at Who Named It? 00181 at CHORUS
The most serious associated conditions generally involve the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. A fatal course usually involves gastrointestinal bleeding, infection, myocardial infarction, and/or kidney failure.In case of remission, about 60% experience relapse within five years. In cases caused by hepatitis B virus, however, recurrence rate is only around 6%. Epidemiology
The condition affects adults more frequently than children and males more frequently than females. Most cases occur between the ages of 40 and 60. Polyarteritis nodosa is more common in people with hepatitis B infection. History
The medical eponyms Kussmaul disease or Kussmaul-Maier disease reflect the seminal description of the disease in the medical literature by Adolph Kussmaul and Rudolf Robert Maier. Culture
In the 1956 American film Bigger Than Life, the protagonist character played by James Mason is diagnosed with polyarteritis nodosa after experiencing excruciating chest pain and is treated with cortisone. References


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