Acute Medicine | Breathlessness 04 knowledge A for GPs

Interstitial Lung Disease and the Acute Medical Take
Session Overview
Description
This session outlines a variety of ways in which interstitial lung disease (ILD) may present on the acute medical take.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Identify potential interstitial lung disease (ILD) in an acute admission patient

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) encompasses a diverse range of conditions, from the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias to granulomatous ILD, drug induced ILDs, inhalational ILDs and those associated with connective tissue disorders.

ILD is not a common cause of breathlessness in patients presenting to the acute medical take, but it is important to diagnose effectively. These patients can be very unwell and difficult to treat.

Typically, patients with ILD have insidious onset of breathlessness and are therefore seen in an outpatient setting. However, occasionally, particularly with some forms of ILD, patients may deteriorate more acutely and require emergency admission.

There are features in the history, in the examination and from the Chest x-ray (CXR) that should lead you to include ILD as a differential diagnosis. This session identifies each of these features.