Specialists and Care Centers

Emphysema Specialists and Care Centers

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine provides complete diagnostic and treatment services and facilities for patients with emphysema and COPD.

Asthma and COPD Program

The Asthma and COPD Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital provides comprehensive care to people living with asthma and COPD with the goal of helping patients manage their diseases effectively and live full and active lives.

Our program is one of the largest in the region, providing specialty care to patients with asthma and COPD. We provide advanced treatments and are the only lung volume reduction surgical program in the region. Clinical research is also a major focus of our mission, as we try to generate new knowledge regarding asthma and COPD and offer new state-of-the-art therapies to our patients.

We offer a comprehensive therapeutic approach to asthma, including multidisciplinary care, advanced diagnostic testing and access to clinical research studies. Our goal is to educate our patients to give them a better understanding of various therapies, when to use them and how to prevent asthma flare-ups.

Pulmonary rehabilitation

Our pulmonologists work with specialists to combine exercise training with breathing retraining, behavioral support and educational programs designed to help patients with cystic fibrosis other related chronic lung diseases.

The main goals of pulmonary rehabilitation are:

• Help you control symptoms
• Improve daily living activities
• Restore your ability to function independently

Our team* of nurses, respiratory therapists, exercise physiologists, pastoral care staff and dietitians will be with you from the start. They'll develop a plan that's right for you by gradually increasing activity levels and improving your quality of life.

Thoracic surgery

Thoracic surgeons treat patients who require surgical solution to diseases and disorders of the chest, including emphysema and COPD.

Northwestern Medicine board-certified thoracic surgeons* have extensive expertise in managing the full spectrum of malignant (cancerous) and benign (non-cancerous) diseases of the lung, chest wall, pleura, mediastinum and esophagus. Your primary care physician or a physician specialist such as a cardiologist, pulmonologist or gastroenterologist may refer you to a thoracic surgeon if they feel that you would receive more effective treatment for a condition affecting the thoracic region.

The Thoracic Surgery Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital offers the latest surgical procedures for benign and malignant diseases of the chest, including the tracheobronchial tree (airways), lungs, pleura, esophagus, diaphragm, chest wall and mediastinum. Our program is composed of a highly specialized team* that provides integrated care and practices medicine centered on each patient’s unique circumstances, including:

• Comprehensive and seamlessly coordinated care across multiple physician disciplines, with team members from:
  • Medical oncology
  • Radiation oncology
  • Interventional pulmonology
  • Thoracic pathology
  • Thoracic radiology
  • A highly specialized team of nurses, anesthesiologists and support personnel
• Advanced diagnostic technologies
• Minimally invasive surgical techniques
• Convenient and customized patient and family services
• Significant expertise in minimally invasive surgical techniques
• Nationally recognized clinical professionals
• Demonstrated quality outcomes
• Access to novel therapies and clinical trials
• Commitment to collaboration with referring physicians
• Collaboration with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies in clinical trials to improve patient care and advance thoracic science

Lung Transplantation Program

The physicians in the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplantation Program combine leading clinical practice with groundbreaking research in the diagnosis and treatment of all types of severe lung disease.

With an active clinical trial program bringing new treatments and procedures to light, our pulmonary physicians offer experience, innovation and expertise in the treatment of complex lung disease.

While lung transplantation is not a cure, it has been shown to have an impressive record in prolonging life among patients with end-stage lung disease: 50 percent of patients live another five years and 20 percent, another 10 years.

The multidisciplinary team* of lung transplant physicians are experienced in all manner of advanced lung disease.

Combining leading research, clinical expertise and thorough diagnostic evaluation, Northwestern Medicine is able to offer the best possible range of nonsurgical and surgical treatments for patients.

The Lung Transplantation Program is one more example of our global approach to quality patient care.