Do you throw up your hands in frustration when the next case on your slide tray is an inflammatory lung disease? Are you tired of signing out these cases as "pulmonary fibrosis" and then mailing the case to a consultant? Would you like to be able to offer a reasonable interpretation of lung biopsies in patients with chronic interstitial lung disease? If so, this course is for you! The course will be structured as a series of lecture style presentations centered around case examples of the most common idiopathic chronic interstitial pneumonias and their differential diagnostic mimics. The talks will focus on a practical approach to the interpretation of lung biopsies performed for inflammatory lung disease, utilizing high resolution CT scan correlations and diagnostic algorithms based on distribution of disease, age of interstitial damage, and temporal uniformity of the process. The current status of the classic chronic interstitial pneumonias (UIP, DIP, LIP, BIP, GIP) and more recently identified variants (NSIP, RB/ILD, COP/BOOP) will be discussed using this algorithmic approach with the ultimate goal of general pathologist self-sufficiency in lung biopsy interpretation. At the end, a short quiz will highlight the key concepts and distinguishing features of this diagnostically challenging group of lesions.

This course is suitable for academic pathologists with an interest in lung disease, practicing general surgical pathologists and pathology residents and fellows. All registrants will receive a CD encompassing the materials of the entire course. A detailed syllabus will be distributed at the time of the course.