Drug or radiation exposure-related interstitial lung disease

Definition

A rare secondary interstitial lung disease (ILD) characterized by development of the condition after exposure to certain drugs or radiation therapy. Diagnostic criteria include clear temporal association, identification of a characteristic reaction pattern to the respective drug, and exclusion of other causes of the ILD. Clinically, drug-induced ILD (DI-ILD) may occur as acute ILD with respiratory failure, or as subacute/chronic DI-ILD. Radiation injury to the lung can develop during or following radiation therapy and depends on the nature and dose of the ionizing radiation, as well as the direction of the radiation beam.