Pulmonary Medicine

Care for Patients with Breathing Difficulty and Lung Conditions

Our comprehensive pulmonary medicine program is staffed by specialists who offer diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education for patients of all ages with breathing difficulties such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and lung disease. Our experienced team includes pulmonologists, respiratory therapists, nurses and diagnostic technicians.

At Boulder Valley Pulmonology, we offer comprehensive treatments and services to help with your breathing and lung-related conditions. Please call us today to schedule an appointment at one of our locations in Boulder or Lafayette at 303-415-5399.

Conditions We Diagnose and Treat

• Abnormal chest x-rays
• Asthma, allergic and non-allergic
• Autoimmune-related lung disease
• Bronchietasis
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Cough
• Critical Care (for ICU inpatients at Foothills Hospital)
• Deep venous thrombosis
• Emphysema and bronchitis
• High altitude illness
• Interstitial lung disease
• Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria
• Pleural effusions
• Pneumonia
• Pulmonary embolism
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Pulmonary nodules
• Respiratory complications of neuromuscular weakness
• Sarcoidosis
• Sleep apnea and other sleep-disordered breathing
• Tuberculosis
• Unexplained shortness of breath

Our Pulmonary Services Include:

CT Scan of the Chest - A CT scan takes pictures of the inside of the body. The pictures are more detailed than a typical x-ray. During a CT scan of the chest, pictures are taken of cross-sections or slices of the thoracic structures in your body. The thoracic structures include your lungs, heart and the bones around these areas.

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing or MVO2 - Also known as an exercise tolerance test, this is used both in the extreme athlete to determine MVO2 max, lactate threshold as part of a structured program to optimize fitness. It is also used to help determine the cause of unexplained shortness of breath.

Pulmonary Function Testing - A non-invasive diagnostic test that checks to see how well your lungs work. PFTs can diagnose lung diseases and measure the severity of lung problems. If you are receiving treatment for a lung disease, a PFT can help determine how well that therapy is working.

Bronchoscopy - A procedure to help diagnose and treat a variety of lung conditions. A thin, flexible fibrotic scope is passed through the mouth or nose into the lungs, typically under sedation, enabling the clinician to view the airway, take samples and perform interventions, when needed

Right Heart Catheterization - Or pulmonary artery catheterization is a test used to see how well your heart is pumping (how much it pumps per minute) and to measure the blood pressure in your heart and the main blood vessels in your lungs. A vein is accessed and then a long thin tube, or catheter, guided to your heart and pulmonary arteries. The pressure in these areas is checked throughout the procedure to confirm whether or not you have pulmonary hypertension and guide therapy.

Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) - This highly effective procedure replaces more invasive methods for staging and diagnosing lung cancer, enlarged lymph nodes, and other pulmonary diseases.

EBUS bronchoscopy allows pulmonologists to perform a transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) to obtain tissues, specimens or fluid samples from the lungs and surrounding lymph nodes in real time without conventional mediastinoscopy. A flexible tube is inserted through the mouth and into the windpipe and lungs. Similar but smaller than the device used during a colonoscopy, the EBUS scope has a video camera with an ultrasound probe attached to create local images of the lungs and nearby lymph nodes in order to accurately locate and evaluate areas seen on X-rays or scans that need a closer look.

Key Benefits:

• No incisions necessary.
• Performed under moderate sedation or general anesthesia.
• Usually takes 30 to 60 minutes.
• Most patients recover quickly and can usually go home the same day.
• High resolution ultrasound image quality enhances the accuracy of diagnosis and staging of lung diseases.
• Reliable tissue acquisition with real-time ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.
• Optimal needle visualization aids the targeting of smaller-size lymph nodes.

Performed by these board-certified pulmonologists:
S. Clark Berngard, MD
Timothy Clark, MD

Biologic Therapy for Severe Asthma - Some patients still have frequent symptoms and exacerbations requiring oral steroids despite being on more than one inhaler. Fortunately, there are newer biologic treatments to help patients with severe asthma. Biologic therapies can help reduce the frequency of exacerbations and improve the quality of life in patients suffering with severe asthma.

Bronchial Thermoplasty - This innovative outpatient treatment can help patients who have severe or persistent asthma that is not well controlled by asthma medications. A specially-trained pulmonologist uses mild heat to decrease the amount of excess smooth muscle tissue in the airways, reducing constriction during an asthma attack.

Critical Care - We provide comprehensive inpatient critical care services for those patients who require intensive care when admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Boulder Community Health’s Foothills Hospital.

Respiratory Therapy - Our experienced respiratory therapists assist pulmonologists in diagnosing illnesses and provide therapy, management and education to improve respiratory health. They can educate patients with cardiac or pulmonary disease conditions on self-management techniques designed to help individuals and families deal with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD.

Pulmonary and Respiratory Care Rehabilitation - Our team of medical experts provides patients with chronic lung conditions tools they can use to manage their condition and improve their quality of life through:

• Comprehensive education
• Stress management
• Lifestyle modification
• Supervised exercise
• Medical testing
• Home exercise programs

Contact Us Today
At Boulder Community Health, we have licensed respiratory therapists available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation and diagnostic testing is available by appointment with a physician referral. Hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call the BCH Cardiopulmonary Department at 303-415-4852.