Clinical management conference. Interstitial lung disease in an elderly woman.

This is a Clinical Management Conference (CMC) presented at a community hospital. It differs from conventional teaching conferences in that (1) the focus of analysis is direct patient benefit and diagnosis is regarded as a secondary process, (2) it seeks to provide an understanding of logical approaches to patient management while confronted with numerous uncertainties caused by an inadequate scientific base, (3) there is no absolute answer provided and (4) the conference involves the entire audience of physicians as direct participants.