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Complications

By Mayo Clinic staff

Pneumonitis that goes unnoticed or untreated can cause irreversible lung damage. Normally, air sacs within your lungs stretch and relax with each breath. Chronic inflammation of the thin tissue lining each air sac can make the air sacs scar and become inflexible — stiff like a dried sponge. This is called pulmonary fibrosis. In severe cases, pulmonary fibrosis can cause heart failure, respiratory failure and death.

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References
  1. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 31st ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:1496.
  2. Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 14, 2011.
  3. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hp/hp_all.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  4. Rose CS, et al. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis. In: Mason RJ, et al. Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/192068760-2/0/1288/0.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  5. King TE. Epidemiology and causes of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (extrinsic allergic alveolitis). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  6. Machtay M. Pulmonary complications of anticancer treatment. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/208746819-4/0/1709/0.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  7. Selman M, et al. Diagnosis and management of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias. In: Mason RJ, et al. Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/192068760-2/0/1288/0.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  8. King TE. Diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (extrinsic allergic alveolitis). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  9. King TE. Treatment and prognosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (extrinsic allergic alveolitis). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 31, 2011.
DS00962 June 3, 2011

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