Improvement in idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia after smoking cessation

• Published in: Respiratory medicine case reports Vol. 14; no. C; pp. 7 - 9
• Main Authors: Shinohara, Tsutomu, Kadota, Naoki, Hino, Hiroyuki, Naruse, Keishi, Ohtsuki, Yuji, Ogushi, Fumitaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2015; Elsevier
• Subjects: Case Report; Cigarette smoking; Fibrotic lung diseases; HRCT; Internal Medicine; KL-6; Pulmonary/Respiratory; Fibrotic lung diseases; KL-6; HRCT; Cigarette smoking
• ISSN: 2213-0071; 2213-0071
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2014.11.004

Abstract Although cigarette smoking has been recognized as a risk factor for the development of several interstitial lung diseases, the relationship between smoking and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) has not yet been fully elucidated. We here present a case of fibrotic NSIP with mild emphysema in an elderly male with normal pulmonary function, whose symptoms, serum KL-6 level, and high-resolution computed tomography findings of interstitial changes markedly improved without medication following the cessation of smoking. Our case suggests that smoking may be an etiological factor in some patients with NSIP and that early smoking cessation before a clinically detectable decline in pulmonary function may be critical for smokers with idiopathic NSIP.