The Section of Pulmonary Medicine: Nationally Respected Specialists, Multidisciplinary Care 

Offering Comprehensive Pulmonary Disease Inpatient and Outpatient Services

Our pulmonary medicine physicians provide state-of-the-art clinical evaluation, diagnosis and treatment services to patients with disorders of the respiratory system, which includes the trachea, bronchi, lungs and diaphragm.

The team provides comprehensive 24-hour-a-day inpatient consultation to physicians throughout MedStar Washington Hospital Center—the region’s busiest tertiary care referral center.

Outpatient diagnostic testing and care management is also provided to patients through the Ambulatory Care Center—and in our physicians’ private offices.

The team routinely works in collaboration with many other specialists on the Hospital Center’s medical staff in an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to patient care. 

When it’s needed, our patients benefit from strong relationships between our pulmonary specialists and the nationally renowned experts of the MedStar Heart and Vascular Institute, and the Washington Cancer Institute.

• Our pulmonary team members are specialists—board certified pulmonologists with years of training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the respiratory system, which includes the trachea, bronchi, lungs and diaphragm.
• Our pulmonary medicine specialists provide both comprehensive inpatient consultation, as well as outpatient services.
• A pulmonary expert is available 24-hours-a-day to consult about patient care with physicians throughout MedStar Washington Hospital Center—the region’s busiest tertiary care referral center.
• The team works in collaboration with many other specialists on the Hospital Center’s medical staff in an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to patient care.
• Members of our pulmonary medicine team are not only fellowship-trained to treat the broad spectrum of pulmonary conditions, most also have specialized areas of expertise, such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, pulmonary sarcoidosis, and lung cancer.
• Our patients benefit from use of the most sophisticated diagnostic tools and treatment regimens available, and have access to nationwide clinical trials of the latest therapies.
• Every member of the medical team is activity involved in clinical research and regularly publishes in prestigious medical journals.
• The section of pulmonary diseases also serves as a center for post-graduate education for physicians through its fellowship program, which provides training to internists who wish to specialize in pulmonary medicine.

Treating the Full Range of Pulmonary Conditions   

Our team of pulmonary experts treat patients with the full range of pulmonary conditions—from acute illnesses to chronic respiratory diseases, including:

• Asthma
• Chronic bronchitis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Dyspnea (shortness of breath)
• Emphysema
• Hypoxemia (low oxygen levels)
• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Interstitial lung disease
• Lung cancer
• Occupational lung disease
• Pneumonia
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Pulmonary sarcoidosis
• Sleep apnea
• Tobacco abuse and smoking cessation

Advanced Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures

• Fiberoptic bronchoscopy

• Bronchoalveolar lavage
• Transbronchial lung biopsy
• Transbronchial needle aspiration
• Guided bronchoscopy (navigation)
• Endobronchial ultrasound (linear and radial)
• Management of airway obstruction
  • Tumor debulking
  • Balloon dilation
  • Stent placement
• Thoracentesis
  • Placement of long-term pleural drainage catheters

Outpatient Pulmonary Function Laboratory Services

In our pulmonary function laboratory, sophisticated diagnostic testing helps doctors evaluate lung function. A physician might prescribe a pulmonary function study for a number of reasons, including:

• Patients experiencing shortness of breath, coughing, or wheezing
• Patients with a history of smoking
• Patients diagnosed with asthma
• Patients who have been exposed to some type of environmental toxins
• Patients with cystic fibrosis

Pulmonary function tests are non-invasive diagnostic exams that provide important information about lung volumes, capacities, rates of flow and gas exchange that doctors use to help diagnose certain lung disorders.

Several types of diagnostic tests can be performed in the lab, including:

• Ambulating saturation
• Arterial blood gas sampling
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing
• Impulse oscillometry
• Lung volume measurement
• Maximum expiratory pressure measurement
• Maximum inspiratory pressure measurement Pulse oximetry at rest and while walking
• Spirometry
• Bronchial inhalation challenge testing
• Diffusion capacity studies