Respiratory/Pulmonary

Pulmonary or respiratory medicine (a.k.a. pneumology) is the medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and management of disorders of the lungs, upper airways, thoracic cavity and chest wall. Pulmonary medicine is a subspecialty of internal medicine. Pulmonologists are medical doctors that specialize in treating disorders related to the lungs and respiratory system.

A pulmonologist uses a number of tools to diagnose patients.

Pulmonary function tests are a group of tests that measure the lung capacity and efficiency of gas exchanges. Pulmonary function tests involve spirometry, which measures lung volume, diffusing capacity and flow volume loop. Other tests include: chest x-ray and CT scan, bronchoscopy, cardiopulmonary exercise test, lung and pleural biopsy, mediastinoscopy, pleural fluid analysis, pulmonary angiography, sleepy study and ventilation/perfusion lung scans.

Pulmonologists treat a wide variety of pulmonary diseases including asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, obstructive sleep apnea, rheumatologic lung diseases, obesity-hypoventilation syndrome and tuberculosis.