Lung Conditions We Treat
If you have been offered a lung transplant, it is because your lung disease is advanced, and a transplant would improve the function of your lungs, helping you return to your normal activities. However, lung transplant is not appropriate for everyone, which is why our specialists conduct an extensive evaluation to determine if you are a candidate.
Our approach begins with listening to you and using advanced diagnostics to learn all we can about your condition. We take the time to discuss your symptoms and concerns, and to make sure you fully understand your disease. If our team determines that transplantation is not best for you, we will discuss other options.
Our specialized team has deep experience diagnosing and treating a wide range of conditions, including:
Obstructive Airway Diseases
Chronic inflammation (swelling) inside the airways causes them to narrow and become obstructed. This makes it difficult for air to move inside the lung, and one has to work harder to breathe.
Obstructive airway diseases include:
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)/Emphysema
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
- Cystic fibrosis
Interstitial Lung Diseases
The tissue in the space around the alveoli, called interstitium, becomes scarred (scarring is also called fibrosis). This causes the lungs to become stiff and shrink, and expanding the lungs when taking a breath becomes difficult.
Interstitial lung diseases include:
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Sarcoidosis
Airway Diseases
The airways become plugged with thick mucus, leading to chronic swelling and infection. This causes the airways to “wear out” and become less elastic. Because of this, it is more difficult to clear mucus effectively, and the lungs are always congested. Recurrent infections are very common.
Airway diseases include:
- Cystic fibrosis
- Bronchiectasis
Vascular Diseases
The blood vessels inside the lungs become narrowed. When the same amount of blood that normally gets pumped through normal-sized vessels tries to get pumped through narrow vessels, it causes the blood pressure inside the vessels to increase. This can happen either by itself with no known cause (idiopathic) or it may happen as the result of another underlying lung disease (secondary), such as pulmonary fibrosis.
Vascular diseases include:
- Pulmonary hypertension (primary or secondary)