The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine offers diagnosis and second-opinion outpatient and inpatient consultations for various adult lung diseases, sleep disorders and illnesses that require intensive care unit admissions. The division includes highly trained and skilled specialists who are board certified in the fields of pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine and sleep medicine. Division faculty members serve as attending physicians at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH). They are responsible for the administration and direction of RWJUH's Medical Intensive Care Unit, Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Respiratory Therapy, Bronchology Service and Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center. In addition to providing clinical care, our physicians also participate in the teaching and training of new physicians and conduct research in critical care medicine and all types of lung disease and sleep problems. These physicians attend national and international meetings to present and review the latest findings in the care of patients with lung disease, sleep disorders and critical care problems.
In recognition of their expertise in the care of patients with lung disease, division faculty members are listed in Best Doctors in America. U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Hospitals" also ranked Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for excellence in the specialty category of respiratory disorders for three years in a row. This ranking is based upon the reputation of board-certified specialists (a survey of 150 in each specialty area); predicted compared to actual mortality rates; and various medical data (e.g., nurse/bed ratio, technology index, discharges) submitted to the American Hospital Association.
The division has several specialty programs that include the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center, the Interventional Bronchology Program, the Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center, the Medical Critical Care Program and Pulmonary Consultation Services. The Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is fully accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to serve the needs of cystic fibrosis patients in New Jersey and surrounding states. The Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center is a joint program of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and is a fully accredited center by the American Sleep Disorders Association. The Medical Intensive Care Unit of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is a Leapfrog-compliant ICU that provides care for critically ill patients who have complex, multisystem, life-threatening diseases and is a tertiary referral center for patients with complex medical critical care issues. The Pulmonary Consultation Service provides comprehensive care of various adult lung diseases, including asthma, COPD, interstitial lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension.
The Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is fully accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to serve the needs of cystic fibrosis patients in New Jersey and surrounding states. The primary function of the center is to provide excellent clinical care, resources and advocacy for adult CF patients and their families. Comprehensive care is provided by a multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Sabiha Hussain, who has more than 15 years' experience in CF-related care, education and research. Experienced team members in the fields of nursing, nutrition, social work and respiratory therapy are available to meet the varied needs of the maturing CF patient. A primary function of the CF team is to assist the adult CF patient and family in navigating today's increasingly complex health care and insurance systems to ensure provision of optimal care. In concert with our pediatric colleagues, the Robert Wood Johnson Cystic Fibrosis Center is a leader in CF-related education and research in New Jersey.
The Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center is a joint program of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and is a fully accredited center by the American Sleep Disorders Association.
The center, which evaluates and treats approximately 1,500 patients annually, provides a full range of diagnostic and treatment services for disorders of sleep and wakefulness. These issues include hypersomnias, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, periodic limb movements in sleep, insomnias, parasomnias (sleep walking, night terrors) and disorders of the sleep-wake schedule. The staff of the center includes specialists in medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, neurology, otolaryngology and dentistry who provide a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care.
Diagnostic services of the center include an outpatient clinic and sleep laboratory where polysomnography and multiple sleep latency testing are performed. Patients with sleep apnea receive nasal CPAP/BiPAP evaluation and treatment when indicated. Other treatment services include pharmacological therapy, behavioral therapy, sleep hygiene training, dental appliances and upper airway surgery in selected cases. Long-term follow-up is provided for all treatment cases.
We provide interventional bronchology services for the diagnosis and treatment of malignant and non-malignant airway and mediastinal diseases. Therapeutic bronchoscopy is indicated for relief of symptoms in patients who have central airway obstruction from either malignant or non-malignant central airway obstruction or asthma. Several modalities allow us to tailor therapy for each patient. These modalities include:
Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)
Thermal techniques, including argon plasma coagulation (APC), electrocautery, laser and cryotherapy
Medical Critical Care Services are provided by the division in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
The Medical Intensive Care Unit is a Leapfrog-compliant ICU that provides care for critically ill patients who have complex, multisystem, life-threatening diseases and is a tertiary referral center for patients with complex medical critical care issues.
Diseases diagnosed and managed include, but are not limited to, acute respiratory failure due to COPD, asthma, pneumonia and ARDS, severe sepsis, life-threatening infections, hypovolemic and distributive shock, acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage, severe pancreatitis, acute liver and kidney failure, strokes, intracranial hemorrhage, status epilepticus and endocrine emergencies.
The MICU at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is a 16-bed, state-of-the-art unit with individual patient rooms, one pod for two patient rooms, and a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:2. The nursing staff are all registered nurses and more than 80 percent are critical care registered nurses. The MICU also possesses a specially trained and dedicated staff of pharmacists, nutritionists and respiratory therapists with the expertise to care for critically ill patients.
Patients admitted under the care of Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group physicians are cared for by a board-certified critical care academic physician, a critical care fellow and a team of internal medicine residents. Subspecialty faculty covering all fields are available for consultations.
All patients admitted to the MICU at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital are also cared for by a group of in-house board-certified intensivists during the hours of 7 p.m. to 9 a.m.
The Pulmonary Consultation Service provides help in the diagnosis and state-of-the-art clinical care of patients with various adult respiratory disease, including interstitial lung diseases, lung cancer, obstructive lung diseases, pulmonary hypertension and sarcoidosis. We provide consultations to establish or review a treatment plan, as well as longitudinal care of patients, if requested. The service will assess for disease severity, design a personalized treatment plan and arrange for pulmonary rehabilitation, home oxygen, smoking cessation, dietary counseling or other therapies as deemed appropriate.
Diagnoses of lung diseases are made with the help of investigative procedures such as imaging studies, pulmonary function tests, cardiopulmonary exercise studies and fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Pulmonary imaging studies such as chest X-ray and CT scan are performed at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and are read by expert chest radiologists. High-quality pulmonary function testing and cardiopulmonary exercise studies are performed at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital by a group of highly trained pulmonary technologists, several of whom are also certified respiratory therapists. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy is performed to obtain specimens from the lung and is performed by board-certified pulmonologists from the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine.
We provide interventional bronchology services for the diagnosis and treatment of malignant and non-malignant airway and mediastinal diseases. Therapeutic bronchoscopy is indicated for relief of symptoms in patients who have central airway obstruction from either malignant or non-malignant central airway obstruction or asthma. Several modalities allow us to tailor therapy for each patient. These modalities include:
Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)
Thermal techniques, including argon plasma coagulation (APC), electrocautery, laser and cryotherapy
