As a new patient referred to Stanford's Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) clinic, you will receive a packet of information before your appointment. This information will include the time and location of your visit, clinic directions, and a new patient questionnaire to complete and bring with you to your clinic appointment. This provides our ILD team with details about your medical history, previous treatments and the reason for the referral to our clinic. Our patient care coordinators will work closely with you and your physicians to obtain the necessary medical records for our ILD team to review in advance of your appointment. Our physicians and nurses are specialized in the care of patients with ILDs and work with a network of other specialists at Stanford to provide comprehensive, compassionate, quality, state-of-the-art care.

Interstitial Lung Disease refers to a large group of lung disorders that cause inflammation or scarring in the lung tissue. The term “interstitial” refers to the area that surrounds the airsacs (alveoli) of the lung. This interstitial space is where the oxygen that you breath in moves across the wall of the alveoli and intothe small blood vessels (capillaries). Once the oxygen crosses this alveolar-capillary membrane into the blood stream, it is delivered to your brain, muscles, kidneys, and other vital organs. The interstial space around the alveoli can become inflamed, thickened or scarred because of a variety of insults or reactions in the lungs.