Photograph by Ed Uthman, MD. Public domain.

What it looks like 

Autopsy photo (left) shows 'honeycomb lung' appearance of end-stage pulmonary fibrosis.

What else it's called

According to the Mayo Clinic, IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis) is:

An older term, now confused because of the inclusion of diseases other than UIP and patients with fibrosis due to known causes in earlier literature. Used prior to the widespread use of HRCT, IPF referred either to a clinical only, or clinicopathologic syndrome of interstitial lung disease, with features suggesting pulmonary fibrosis of unknown cause. In retrospect, this group included patients with NSIP, DIP, AIP, EG, BOOP, and HSP, as well as some patients with resolving organizing DAD and even stable post-inflammatory fibrosis. Some articles included patients with  connective-tissue disorders and others did not. The term IPF also includes the group reported by Turner-Warwick as cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis (CFA) in the UK,   which had a mean survival of 5 years, with 20% of patients doing well at 10 years, and 20-25% of patients having a favorable response to corticosteroid therapy. "IPF" also includes the group of patients with OLB’s studied by Bjoraker et al, which proved to have diseases other than UIP in 1/3 of cases. "IPF" also includes the 15%  of patients described by Winterbauer who have a disease which "does not progress clinically". 

 

Confused Yet??

IPF by Many Other Names
If it's not IPF according to the above definitions
BUT it's called one of the terms below --
it is still pulmonary fibrosis
It is still not something you want !