Clinical signs |
Bilateral lung crackles |
Chest radiograph |
Pulmonary infiltrates [5] |
CT scan |
HRCT can identify features such as ground glass shadowing and air trapping even when the X-ray is normal [6,10] |
Gallium scan |
Uptake reflects alveolar macrophage activation [7] |
TcDTPA lung clearance |
Indicates increased alveolar permeability and subclinical inflammation [8,9] |
Lung function |
Restriction of lung volumes [11], impaired gas diffusion, hypoxaemia and airways obstruction [12] |
Systemic signs |
Temperature and neutrophil leucocytosisin acute exacerbation |
Bronchial lavage |
Initial neutrophil alveolitis followed by lymphocytic alveolitis |
Lung biopsy |
Lymphocyte infiltrate, granuloma formation, fibrosis |