[Desquamative interstitial pneumonia (apropos of one case)]

Suspected to be a syndrome rather than an authentic clinical entity, the "desquamative interstitial pneumonia" (DIP) exhibits typical anatomo-pathological aspects of intra-alveolar proliferation of granular pneumocytes, type II pneumocytes, leaving the alveolar interstitium unaffected. In absence of superinfection, it remains almost free of fibrous or inflammatory manifestations. The association of DIP to 4 other fundamental histological varieties of diseases of the pulmonary interstitium (UIP, BIP, LIP, GIP) is at the origin of Liebow's classification. The clinical individualization of these entities is still questioned.