Pulmonary

The Lung Center at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children

The mission of the Lung Center at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children is to improve the respiratory health of children through innovative medical services, clinical research, and community outreach. Target disease areas include asthma, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, lung disease of prematurity and sleep-disordered breathing.

The Lung Center at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children provides state-of-the-art pulmonary and allergy care across the full spectrum of respiratory and allergic diseases. The multidisciplinary team includes five pulmonologists, an allergist, a pulmonary nurse practitioner, four specialty nurses, a respiratory therapist, a social worker and a dietitian.

Major services within the section include:

• The Cystic Fibrosis Center, which is accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, provides complete interdisciplinary care for children with cystic fibrosis. In addition to providing long-term care to established patients, the center staff also provides evaluations for patients with suspected cystic fibrosis and those with positive results on the CF newborn screening. The CF Center also serves as a Therapeutic Development Research Center in which clinical trials of new therapies are performed.
• The Sleep Center at St. Christopher’s Hospital is fully accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The sleep center provides both clinical evaluations by our sleep specialists as well as a four-bed sleep laboratory for overnight polysomnography studies.
• The Asthma Center combines the expertise of our allergists and pulmonologists and offers comprehensive evaluation and treatment for children with asthma.
• The Home Ventilation Program offers care for children requiring ventilatory support at home. The Home Ventilation Program provides comprehensive care through the combined efforts of pulmonologists, nurse practitioners, and respiratory therapists.
• The Sickle Cell Pulmonary Program provides evaluations and treatment of the pulmonary complications in children with sickle cell anemia.

Tests/Procedures

The Center’s Pediatric Pulmonary Function Laboratory performs a wide array of diagnostic testing for infants, children, and adolescents, including:

• Spirometry and lung volume measurements to measure airway function and lung capacity
• Bronchoprovocation testing for airway sensitivity and asthma
• Exercise testing for type and extent of breathing limitations
• Sweat testing for cystic fibrosis.

Diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy is the direct examination of a child’s airways with a fiber optic camera. This procedure is performed by our pulmonologists in the inpatient and outpatient procedure areas of the hospital.

Sleep studies, or polysomnography testing, are performed in our four-bed, state-of-the-art Sleep Laboratory to evaluate for obstructive sleep apnea and other breathing disorders that can occur during sleep.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (215) 427-5183.

Locations

Meet the Team

St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia has a highly qualified team of board-certified experts who are specially trained to work with the individual and unique needs of infants and pediatric patients.

The team is led by Mark Dovey, MD, Chief, Section of Pulmonology.

Physicians

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