Pulmonary

Pulmonary medicine focuses on respiration and the organs involved in this vital function. Symptoms we evaluate and treat are varied and include, among others, persistent coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath, decreased ability to exercise, and dizziness. At times an exam of the abdomen or chest for some unrelated condition could discover a condition that requires pulmonary medicine.

Disorders that involve the airways include asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, upper airway obstruction and others. Diseases of the lung tissue where oxygen exchange takes place include emphysema and interstitial lung disease. Pulmonary medicine also frequently involves diagnosing and treating the part of the heart that pumps blood through the lungs and then to the tissues where the cellular respiration takes place. A pulmonary embolism and pulmonary hypertension fall into this category. Additionally, masses or abnormal shadows in the lung may need to be evaluated. Those can be valley fever, lung cancer, pneumonia or a variety of other conditions.