Term used to describe widespread ALI with rapid progressive course of unknown etiology?

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Widespread acute injury to the lung that progresses rapidly with no identified cause is described as acute lung injury. This term emphasizes a diffuse, noncardiogenic insult to the alveolar–capillary barrier, leading to rapid respiratory decline and bilateral lung involvement, typically with hypoxemia. It’s a broad category used historically for noncardiogenic pulmonary edema that isn’t tied to a known etiology, sitting on a spectrum with more severe classifications like ARDS.

Why the other terms don’t fit as well: acute interstitial pneumonia is a specific, albeit severe, diffuse inflammatory process with a distinct pattern and poorer prognosis rather than a general description of widespread acute injury of unknown cause. Pulmonary edema refers to fluid accumulation in the lungs, which can be cardiogenic or noncardiogenic, but it centers on edema as the mechanism and often has a known cardiac or volume-overload cause. COPD is a chronic, long-standing obstructive disease, not an acute diffuse lung injury.