Pulmonology

Breathe Easier with Northside Hospital Pulmonary Services

Northside Hospital's pulmonary team provides expert care to help keep your lungs healthy and working at their full capacity. 

Your pulmonary system, sometimes called your respiratory system, includes all of the organs you need to breathe – from your nose to your windpipe (trachea) to your lungs. 

The pulmonary team at Northside brings together experts in all aspects of respiration health. Depending on your individual needs, your team might include a pulmonologist, respiratory therapist, respiratory nurse, radiologist, pharmacist, and other nurses, technicians and clinical specialists. For any respiratory condition, they'll carefully evaluate your symptoms and understand your goals. Together, they’ll identify your diagnosis and work with you to determine the right treatment plan.

Pulmonary Care Excellence at Northside 

Northside's dedicated GI and Pulmonary Endoscopy Centers provide convenient locations for the diagnosis and treatment of any breathing disorder. Some of the most common include lung cancers, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma. 

Our Interventional Pulmonology Program offers advanced techniques for the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancers and other diseases. 

Our experience goes even deeper, to diagnose and treat rarer conditions such as pulmonary hypertension — also known as high blood pressure of the lungs. In fact, Northside was the first hospital in Georgia to earn national accreditation as a Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center (PHCC)in recognition of our expertise. 

We're also committed to helping people develop healthier lifestyles through our Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program. Our comprehensive AACVPR-certified education and exercise program uses the leading methods to help improve lung capacity, manage pulmonary symptoms and deliver patient-focused support for a better quality of life.

Advanced Pulmonary Procedures at Northside

At Northside, your pulmonologist has access to many advanced tests and therapies to help you achieve better lung function, including: 

• Bronchoscopy: This procedure lets doctors see inside the lungs and airways through a thin tube equipped with a tiny video camera. It's used to help diagnose and treat many lung problems. 


• Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS): Using built-in ultrasound to create images, EBUS allows doctors to check the lungs and nearby lymph nodes. It can help doctors see how far cancers or other conditions have spread, for example, and decide the best treatment.


• Navigational bronchoscopy: This form of highly specialized bronchoscopy gives doctors a virtual 3D "map" they can use to more accurately — and in some cases, more safely — diagnose and or treat hard-to-reach areas of the lungs. 


• Photodynamic therapy (PDT): A quick outpatient procedure, PDT combines a special light and medicine to destroy cancer cells in the lungs. It can be used repeatedly in the same area, so it works exceptionally well for cancers that come back again after initial treatment.


• Robotic bronchoscopy: The robotic bronchoscopy platform allows less invasive techniques to obtain biopsies through bronchoscopes while maintaining direct visualization of very small peripheral nodules. These new bronchoscopes allow specialized pulmonologists to telescope to extremely small airways which previously were too tortuous to access with a conventional bronchoscope. With the camera embedded in these telescoping catheters, direct visualization is never lost even while navigating to the smallest airways with small precise movements.