Resources

Bronchoscopy

A bronchoscopy is a procedure that allows your Mount Sinai pulmonologist to see inside your lungs, throat, and airway passages, enabling him or her to diagnose diseases in the throat, larynx, trachea, and lower airways. A bronchoscopy can also treat problems such as an object or growth in the airways. This procedure is performed by threading a thin tube (bronchoscope) through your mouth or nose and into your lungs.

Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS):

Endobronchial ultrasound and navigational bronchoscopy are new cutting-edge diagnostic procedures available at Mount Sinai that make it possible to biopsy previously difficult-to-access nodules/lymph nodes that would have necessitated a surgical procedure in the past.

Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic

Mount Sinai offers a weekly clinic with South Florida’s only multidisciplinary team specializing in pulmonary hypertension. Using the latest diagnostic tools, our pulmonologists offer expert diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension and create personalized care plans tailored to each patient. Pulmonary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure in the heart and lungs that can be life-threatening. While pulmonary hypertension cannot be cured, proper care and treatment can improve your symptoms and increase your quality of life. Mount Sinai Medical Center’s team of pulmonologists has vast experience treating patients with pulmonary hypertension, including staff with over 30 years of expertise in treating complicated pulmonary hypertension cases.

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU):

The MICU at Mount Sinai Medical Center treats critically ill patients with serious conditions, including those that affect the lungs, such as pneumonia. The MICU is staffed by doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other health care professionals who provide specialized around-the-clock care. Every day, pulmonologists address the respiratory needs of critically ill patients in the MICU, ensuring that each patient receives personalized care. This service has extensively reduced the time patients spend on mechanical ventilators in the MICU.

Sleep Laboratory

Mount Sinai’s Sleep Disorders Center has been providing specialized sleep testing to the community since 1977. The center is fully accredited by The Joint Commission and is staffed by board-certified medical and technological staff. The physicians at Mount Sinai’s Sleep Disorders Center understand that sleep plays a vital role in promoting a person’s health and well-being. They are committed to helping patients overcome barriers to quality sleep. The physicians at the center specialize in helping people who are unable to sleep well and who struggle to stay awake during the day, treating both common and rare sleep disorders. The center offers diagnostic and therapeutic polysomnography (sleep studies) to investigate sleep disorders, including obstructive, central and mixed sleep apnea; snoring; Cheyne-Stokes respiration; obesity hypoventilation syndrome; narcolepsy; periodic limb movements of sleep; and parasomnias (e.g., sleep walking and REM behavior disorder).

Pulmonary Function Laboratory

Mount Sinai’s Pulmonary Function Laboratory serves patients from within Miami-Dade County and beyond. The laboratory is widely recognized for its excellence in evaluating and treating adult and pediatric patients who suffer from unexplained shortness of breath. The physicians at the Pulmonary Function Laboratory provide compassionate, high-quality, and cutting-edge care with state-of-the-art diagnostic testing. Highlights include the following:

• Exercise provocation tests — An exercise provocation test is a type of lung test that is used to assess the effect of vigorous exercise on your lungs. The test is performed in a controlled setting, often on a treadmill or stationary bicycle. Clinicians monitor the patient’s heart rate (using EKG leads), oxygen saturation, and blood pressure during the test. Exercise provocation tests assist doctors in the diagnosis of exercise-induced asthma, which is particularly useful in testing athletes, including high school athletes.
• Methacholine challenge — The methacholine challenge is a test used to assist in the diagnosis of asthma that does not show up on a standard pulmonary function test. During the test, your Mount Sinai physicians administer small doses of inhaled methacholine. After each dose of methacholine, doctors measure your response with a lung test (spirometry). Patients with asthma will have an increased sensitivity to inhaled methacholine, while non-asthmatics may not be affected by the drug.
• High altitude simulation test — A high altitude simulation test helps your Mount Sinai pulmonology team assess the effects of air travel on patients with underlying pulmonary disease. These patients can be at risk for significant cardiopulmonary effects caused by reduced oxygen saturation in the environment at higher altitudes. This test simulates the slightly oxygen-reduced conditions of a typical airplane cabin, allowing doctors to measure the effects on patients through breathing tests (spirometry) and by measuring blood oxygen saturation. In some cases, doctors may recommend supplemental oxygen for air travel.
• Body plethysmography — A body plethysmography test measures the amount of air present in your lungs when you take a deep breath and how much air is left in your lungs after you exhale. This test helps your Mount Sinai pulmonologist assess the effect of lung diseases, such as COPD, cystic fibrosis, or asthma, on lung function. This also helps your Mount Sinai team assess your condition and determine appropriate treatment options. It also helps doctors evaluate the efficacy of current treatments and medications.