Introduction: Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs), which refer to mild or subtle nongravity-dependent interstitial changes, may be neglected by some clinicians due to many reasons, such as lack of diagnostic criteria for ILAs and absence of available treatments and surveillance strategies. However, without intervention, some ILAs may progress to interstitial lung disease (ILD). This review summarizes our current knowledge of this condition and ways of diagnosing it together with current management. We hope that this will lead to better recognition of ILAs.
Areas covered: We reviewed the literature on PubMed between 2008 and 2020 focusing on prevalence, etiology, symptoms, diagnostic biomarkers, clinical associations, and management of ILAs.
Expert opinion: Timely diagnosis with close monitoring of ILAs and appropriate intervention should be recognized as the management approach to ILAs. Research into ILAs should continue to improve its management.
Keywords: Interstitial lung abnormalities; biomarkers; imaging; management; prevalence; subclinical interstitial lung diseases.