ABSTRACT

There are a wide variety of interstitial lung diseases (ILD). The broad categories include occupational interstitial diseases, infectious, collagen vascular, and unknown category. The collagen vascular diseases, especially systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), often include pleural disease and will be discussed elsewhere in this book. Occupational lung diseases, such as asbestos-related pleural disease, will not be discussed in this chapter. We will concentrate on pleural diseases related to idiopathic diseases, such as sarcoidosis and Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis (LCH).