A heterogeneous group of noninfectious, nonmalignant disorders of the lower respiratory tract, affecting primarily the alveolar wall structures but also often involving the small airways and blood vessels of the lung parenchyma. "Interstitial" refers to the fact that the interstitium of the alveolar walls is thickened, usually by fibrosis. This group of diseases is usually inflammatory. (Dorland, 27th ed; Wyngarden, Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed, p396).
