“These changes in gene expression are likely the earliest biologic abnormalities in the small airway epithelium that lead to clinically detectable lung disease,” they wrote.

"These changes in gene expression are likely the earliest biologic abnormalities in the small airway epithelium that lead to clinically detectable lung disease," they wrote.

Objective To describe a form of interstitial lung disease pathologically characterized by small airway-centered interstitial fibrosis(ACIF).