ABSTRACT
Respiratory bronchiolitis-associated interstitial lung disease (RB-ILD) and des-
quamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP) are two of the seven entities currently
classified under the rubric of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (1). These two
terms are used in referring to clinical-radiologic-pathologic diagnoses;
underlying histopathologic patterns are RB and DIP, respectively (1). Accu-
mulated evidence suggests that these disorders are related to cigarette smoking
in most cases, i.e., smoking-related interstitial lung diseases (2,3). Cigarette
smoke is a complex mixture of more than 6000 diverse chemicals and is the
leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States (4,5). RB-ILD and DIP
are highly related and with more extensive changes seen in DIP compared with
RB-ILD.
