[Chronic interstitial pneumonitis].

Interstitial lung disease includes a group of chronic diseases characterized by alterations in alveolar walls and loss of functional alveolar-capillary units. These are rare diseases in children, mostly with an unknown cause and associated with a high morbidity and mortality due to insufficient therapeutic effectiveness. The authors report a case of a previously healthy 3 years old child who presented with wheezing and severe respiratory insufficiency following a respiratory infection. The investigation performed led to the diagnosis of chronic interstitial pneumonitis. Several treatments have been tried (corticosteroids, hydroxychloroquine, N-acetylcysteine) without any obvious improvement.