Respirology

What is Pulmonology?

Pulmonology is a specialty that deals with the respiratory system and the chest cavity. The lungs, bronchi, chest membranes, mediastinum, respiratory muscles and other organs located in the chest area are included in the specialty of this branch. Physicians specializing in pulmonology, also known as chest diseases, are called pulmonologists.

Which Diseases does Pulmonology Treat

Many diseases that affect the organs and tissues located in the lower respiratory tract or located in the chest area are included in the specialty of the department of pulmonology.

We can list the primary ones as follows:

Asthma: Difficulty breathing as a result of inflammation and narrowing of the airways.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A progressive disease that affects the lungs, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Lung Cancer: A type of cancer that originates from lung tissue.

Pneumonia: Inflammation of the lung tissue.

Sleep Apnea: Respiratory arrest during sleep.

Pulmonary Hypertension: High blood pressure in the pulmonary veins.

Pulmonary Fibrosis: Increased scar tissue in the lung tissue.

Pulmonary Embolism: The clots travelling into the pulmonary veins.

Sarcoidosis: A disease in which granulomas form in the lungs and other organs.

Interstitial Lung Diseases: A large group of diseases that affect the tissue of the lungs.

Bronchiectasis: Permanent enlargement of the bronchi.

Pleural Diseases: Diseases that affect the chest membranes, for example, inflammation of the pleura (pleuritis).

Cirrhosis of the Lungs: Scarring and deterioration of lung tissue.

Pneumothorax: Air leakage from the lung into the chest cavity.

Tuberculosis: An infectious disease caused by the bacterium mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Liv Hospital Pulmonology

In the Department of Pulmonology of Liv Hospital, allergy tests are performed and counseling on ways to quit smoking is provided in addition to diagnosis and treatment of various chest diseases and lung cancer.

The department also offers alternative treatments for sleeping problems caused by chest diseases, breathing difficulties during sleep and snoring problems. Spirometric tests, reversibility test, current volume curve, diffusion capacity, exercise test and maximum oxygen consumption, NO measurement, arterial blood gas measurement can be performed in the respiratory function laboratory. Allergy skin testing is at your service in a wide range.

In the bronchoscopy laboratory, it is possible to diagnose many lung diseases, especially lung cancer, by rigid bronchoscopy, fiberoptic bronchoscopy (with the most advanced videobronchoscopy) and EBUS, to treat with argon plasma coagulation (APC), electrocoagulation, cryotherapy and to place endobronchial stents. In the sleep laboratory affiliated to our department, many sleeping disorders, especially snoring, are diagnosed and treated. If necessary, the surgical treatment decision taken with a multidisciplinary approach is performed by our ENT physicians.

Lung cancer is one of the areas that the Department of Pulmonogy is most involved in. Interventional bronchoscopy method is applied in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer at Liv Hospital. At the hospital, the treatment of a patient diagnosed with lung cancer is decided not by a single physician, but by the Tumor Council, which consists of different medical units. According to the decision of this council, the patient undergoes surgical intervention or chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Allergy tests performed in the Pulmonology Department of Liv Hospital detect substances that patients are allergic to and provide information on ways of prevention. Doctors who see whether it affects lung capacity or not in breathing tests performed for COPD patients provide consultancy to their patients about smoking cessation methods when necessary.