Mucociliary clearance mechanism in interstitial lung disease.

To evaluate mucociliary clearance mechanisms of the lungs, 14 patients with pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and 8 with sarcoidosis were studied by lung function tests and radioaerosol inhalation lung cine-scintigraphy. Although all these patients showed interstitial densities on chest x-rays, only the patients with pulmonary interstitial fibrosis indicated restrictive and diffusion abnormalities by lung function tests and those with sarcoidosis did not show either of these functional abnormalities. Mucociliary clearance mechanisms were well maintained qualitatively and quantitatively in these patients with interstitial lung disease.