Children’s Interstitial Lung Diseases in Early Infancy

Children’s interstitial lung disease is a group of relatively rare pulmonary disorders that can present in the neonatal or early infancy periods. A classification scheme was developed in 2007 to aid clinicians and researchers in more accurate recognition and diagnosis. Infants who present with a prolonged oxygen requirement and/or persistent tachypnea may suffer from one of these conditions. Although more widely described afflictions, such as pulmonary hypoplasia or genetic errors of surfactant metabolism, may be considered in the differential diagnosis of these symptoms, a few of the remaining disorders have been only recently described, making them important entities to become familiar with in contemporary medical practice. This article describes the lesser-known conditions that have the potential to cause significant pulmonary disease in infancy.