Non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) is a form of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.
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Symptoms
Symptoms include cough, difficulty breathing, and fatigue.
Causes
It has been suggested that idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia has an autoimmune mechanism, and is a possible complication of undifferentiated connective tissue disease.
Classification
Lung biopsies performed on patients with NSIP reveal two different disease patterns - cellular and fibrosing - which are associated with different prognoses. The cellular pattern displays chronic inflammation with minimal fibrosis. The fibrosing pattern displays interstitial fibrosis with various inflammation levels. Both patterns are uniform and lack the prominent fibroblastic foci that are found in other types of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.
Prognosis
The fibrosing pattern of NSIP has a five year survival rate of 86% to 92%, while the cellular pattern of NSIP has a 100% five year survival rate. Patients with NSIP(whether cellular or fibrosing), have a better prognosis than those with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP).