DIFFUSE LUNG DISEASE: A CASE REPORT

The purpose of the work was to demonstrate that an early stage diagnosis of the interstitial lung disease would allow establishing the proper treatment course and as a result, increase life expectancy and quality in patients with this disorder. More than 200 acute and chronic conditions with inflammatory and fibroproliperative changes comprise the group of diffuse lung diseases. Definitive diagnosis cannot be made based on chest X-ray only. Diffuse lung disease (DLD) is difficult to differentiate from bacterial lung diseases, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, which frequently results in incorrect treatment, disease progression and poor outcome. All of the these factors emphasize the importance of the issue of differential diagnosis. Professionals especially pay attention to idiopathic forms of diffuse lung disease, which is characterized with severe clinical course and poor prognosis due to progressive fibrous processes. The right method of approach is to rule out more common conditions, such as infectious diseases of lungs, structural abnormalities of the respiratory airway, immune deficiencies, congenital heart diseases, cystic fibrosis. Thus, DLD is a diagnostic challenge for pediatricians and pulmonologists. Article presents the case report of 4-month old infant with DLD that was analyzed according to the diagnostic and management approach. It includes anamnesis, clinical and diagnostic criteria of the disease, established by multiple studies, different methods of treatment, outcome and recommendations.