Fibrosing Alveolitis - A chronic lung disease characterised initially by the presence
of inflammatory cells within the alveoli followed by thickening and fibrosis of the
alveolar walls.
The condition is part of a spectrum of conditions known as interstitial lung disease.
The term cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis should be reserved for those people in
whom lung histology has shown to demonstrate the pathological changes termed usual
interstitial pneumonitis (UIP).
This is characterised by patchy interstitial changes, a honeycomb appearance to the
lung tissue and eosinophilic infiltration.
