Hearing your child may have an interstitial lung disease is probably the first time you've ever heard about these serious lung conditions. The providers on our Children's Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease (ChILD) Center team are experts in ILDs and will explain everything as your child is diagnosed and treated.

Your child will have access to the full breadth of resources of the Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), which has been ranked among the best in the country for pulmonary care ever since U.S. News & World Report began ranking specialties in 2009.

Learn more about what sets us apart and the factors to consider when seeking the best pediatric ILD care.

Innovative research

While progress has been made in identifying and creating individualized treatments for ILDs, we won't rest until we know more and can improve outcomes and quality of life for all children with ILDs.

The center has an active research program across basic science — understanding the biological, cellular and genetic causes of ILDs — and clinical trials.

Our innovative research in ChILD includes studies to identify the underlying genetic causes of lung disease, biobanking to make patient tissue samples available for future research, novel techniques for assessing lung function in young children and pioneering clinical trials.

• The National Registry for Childhood ILD, led by division chief and ChILD Center Co-Director Lisa Young, MD, is administered at CHOP. The study includes more than 25 children’s hospitals with more than 600 children who have ILD enrolled.
• CHOP’s Lung Research Center brings together investigators conducting basic and translational research focused on lung biology and mechanisms of childhood lung diseases.
• The Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute (LBI) — a collaboration with Penn Medicine — is at the forefront of pulmonary research, developing novel approaches to prevent and treat human lung diseases, including ILDs.

Accurate, detailed diagnosis

Since the symptoms of ILD can overlap with more common diseases, some children may have already had extensive testing before coming to our ChILD Center. Such testing may include laboratory studies, X-rays, cardiac echocardiogram, and testing for gastroesophageal reflux and aspiration. Flexible bronchoscopy may also be performed to examine the airway for abnormalities in structure and test for infections.

At CHOP, testing for ILD is individualized. The approach depends on many factors, including the age of the child, the severity of the symptoms and whether the child has other health concerns that might relate to the lung disease. To enhance our diagnostic ability, our Center incorporates a broad array of testing including specialized chest CT scans, genetic testing and immunology studies. While lung biopsy is needed in some patients, our program turns to CHOP’s Pulmonary Advanced Diagnostic and Interventional Bronchoscopy Center. This center’s skilled providers use advanced bronchoscopy techniques for minimally invasive tissue sampling as an alternative to surgical lung biopsy in some cases.

At CHOP, each step in the diagnosis and treatment of this complex group of disorders is individualized based on the underlying problems and each patient’s unique condition.

Individualized treatment

After determining the type of ILD, we move on to creating an individualized treatment plan for each child. For some children, supplemental oxygen and nutritional support are needed as they grow and their lungs heal. Others may require personalized treatments focusing on immune abnormalities, inflammation or fibrosis when present. There are many other important aspects of care that improve symptoms and quality of life. Our team of experts works with each child and family to develop a comprehensive treatment plan.

Collaboration with patient advocacy groups

The ChILD Center at CHOP partners with patient advocacy groups, such as the ChILD Foundation, the NEHI Research Foundation and others. We know it will take our collective effort to overcome the overall lack of information about this group of rare respiratory disorders. Working together allows us to pool our information to develop the most effective ways to diagnose and treat ILDs.