Category: News

Most patients with asthma are managed with a stepwise protocol in which therapy is escalated as disease severity worsens.1 Two recent additions to the asthma armamentarium, omalizumab and mepolizumab, are monoclonal antibodies to IgE and IL-5, respectively, that are aimed at asthma that remains inadequately controlled despite Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2002 step 4

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The University of Cincinnati Medical Center houses one of only three Centers for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS) selected by the U.S. Air Force and is the only such center to focus on air evacuation of critically injured patients. Since its inception in 2002, the C-STARS program has trained personnel to be

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Intra bronchial valves (IBVs) are FDA-approved to limit distal airflow to damaged lung tissue to aid in the reduction or cessation of persistent postoperative air leaks in pre-identified airways.

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Various strategies are employed at hospitals and health systems to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety, with some adopting aviation protocols, another industry with a high risk environment. Renee Hebbeler-Clark, MD, MS, director of patient safety education for graduate medical education at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, oversees training programs to ensure that 650+

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Diffuse cystic lung diseases (DCLDs) are uncommon and frequently misdiagnosed, in part because there are so many different causes. The most frequently encountered DCLDs in clinical practice are lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHD), and pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH).1 But cystic lung disease can also be due to Light Chain Deposition Disease or a rare

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Current surgical approaches to the care of emphysema patients including lung transplantation and lung volume reduction surgery are welcome options for motivated patients who qualify for these advanced procedures, however, many chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients at University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center are too ill to be considered. “I am optimistic about the

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the drug sirolimus for the treatment of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disorder primarily affecting women. The Multicenter International Lymphangioleiomyomatosis Efficacy and Safety of Sirolimus (MILES) trial, spearheaded by investigators at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine and Cincinnati

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The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has awarded an R01 grant of nearly $1.6 million to a team of University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers to study the unusual lung disease, pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM). The study’s principal investigator is Francis X. McCormack, MD, Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

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Home spirometry is being added as a secondary end point in a lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) trial soon to begin enrollment at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center. Its inclusion is aimed at helping to assess the feasibility and reliability of performing home spirometry among patients with LAM. “Checking lung function more often will result in

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In a new program at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center, patients who have a presentation consistent with poorly controlled asthma are undergoing testing to determine if they actually have excessive dynamic airway collapse (EDAC) instead. EDAC is a common condition in which the soft tissue of the posterior wall of the trachea bulges

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Research at University of Cincinnati Medical Center suggests that the immune system may drive the disease progression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  A preclinical study performed by UC pulmonary scientists identified a key link between cigarette smoke and the activation of a cellular receptor (NKG2D) on cytotoxic lymphocytes that is critical to immune system activation,

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Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare, metastatic neoplasm in women that leads to cystic lung destruction and declining lung function. Until recently, LAM patients faced respiratory disability and the need for supplemental oxygen and lung transplantation without an effective therapy.

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Long-involved in clinical trials for agents to treat cystic fibrosis (CF), Patricia Joseph, MD, professor of medicine and director of Cystic Fibrosis program in the department of internal medicine, University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center, says that therapies targeted at different cystic fibrosis (CF) defects are “the most exciting developments in CF right now.” There

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Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) was discovered in 1958 but it wasn’t until almost 40 years later that the pathogenesis of this rare lung syndrome was determined following the serendipitous discovery that mice deficient in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) spontaneously develop PAP

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The University of Cincinnati Medical Center Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Innovative Fellowship Education Program is helping new physicians become outstanding teachers.  An interactive, participatory learning modality is quickly becoming the standard for large group presentations of medical information, gradually replacing the more traditional, passive didactic approach.1 The University of Cincinnati Medical

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Responding to a congressional initiative to promote clinical research for rare diseases – that collectively affect approximately 25 million Americans – the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) in 2003

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“Most of us were taught that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is not useful for studying the pulmonary parenchyma; but that is changing,” says Frank McCormack, MD. Jason Woods, PhD, agrees that use of MRI in pulmonary disease is coming of age, as clinicians learn that novel MRI approaches can provide risk-free high resolution images of

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The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) has launched a three-year funding program totaling close to $280,000 called the “Transforming CF Care Through Shared Decision-Making” initiative.

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As many as 66% of ICU patients are admitted outside of standard business hours. Frequently, multiple pulmonary procedures such as intubations, extubations, and resuscitations need to be performed simultaneously in the ICU.

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Until the 1990s, almost nothing was known about Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM).

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Understanding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of lung disease requires the collaboration between basic and clinical scientists, and is the primary mission of the Translational Pulmonary Science Center (TPSC) at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Formed in 2013, the TPSC is a joint effort between the pulmonary divisions of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

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University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center is now one of 40 medical centers across the nation that is designated a Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Care Network site, demonstrating experience and expertise in treating patients with fibrotic lung disease.

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The 2016 International Rare Lung Diseases Research Conference is designed to educate patients, help jump-start clinical trials and offer a forum for the latest research on rare lung diseases, according to Frank McCormack, MD, Taylor Professor and Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. The conference is set for Sept. 22-25,

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The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) is establishing referral centers with expertise in the rare disease, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), with the goal of improving outcomes for these complex patients.

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University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center has reduced hospital readmissions in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) by more than 30% over the past eight months. Muhammad Zafar, MD, clinical instructor and medical director of pulmonary rehabilitation at the UC Medical Center, is the head of the quality improvement project, Improving

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Successful completion of the Multicenter International Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) Efficacy and Safety of Sirolimus (MILES) trial was critically dependent on communication and collaboration with the LAM patient community, which was made possible through their advocacy group, the LAM Foundation.

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