Update on Pulmonary Fibrosis: Not All Fibrosis Is Created Equally.

CONTEXT: Three distinct patterns of pulmonary fibrosis, including usual interstitial pneumonia, fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, and airway-centered fibrosis, can be identified on surgical lung biopsies.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the pathologic definitions, clinical and radiographic presentations, etiologies and differential diagnoses, treatments, and prognoses of usual interstitial pneumonia, fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, and airway-centered fibrosis patterns, and to address the challenges and controversies related to pulmonary fibrosis.

DATA SOURCES: Data were derived from published literature and clinical experience.

CONCLUSIONS: Although there may be overlap, identification of the dominant form of fibrosis in a particular case can provide a general category of disease and assist in identifying an etiology.