Pulmonology & Sleep (Airways, Lungs, Asthma)

Children’s General Chest Clinic
This clinic evaluates and manages all patients with all respiratory conditions and complaints.

Patients are screened and evaluated and following a diagnosis, specific therapy and follow-up will be planned.

The common problems can involve the nasal passages and throat down to the larynx and airways as well as the lungs, pleural and chest wall.

Conditions include rhinitis, snoring and obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome, asthma and other airway allergies, chest infection, chronic lung diseases such as bronchiectasis, chronic respiratory insufficiency and bronchopulmonary dysplasia and congenital abnormalities of the airways and lungs.

Common complaints include chronic cough, recurrent wheezing and persistent rhinitis.

Children’s Asthma and Allergy Clinics
We have a comprehensive children’s asthma service based on the Children’s Asthma and Allergy Network, also known as I CAN! Programme.

This is a comprehensive patient-centred programme which manages both in-patients as well as outpatients with asthma and allergies. Our children’s asthma specialists and allergists work closely in the evaluation and management of children with asthma and allergic disorders. Our team comprises not only doctors and specialist nurses but paediatric nutritionists, psychologists and physiotherapists.

The holistic approach to asthma (and allergy) management includes a detailed diagnosis as well as thorough evaluation and treatment reinforced with education and counseling as well as close monitoring and follow-up. We adopt a family-based asthma management programme whereby the family and patient are the primary managers of the disease with the help of action plans which the doctor oversees during clinic reviews.

Our diagnostic facilities include child-friendly lung function tests as well as exercise-stress tests and exhaled nitric oxide evaluation.

The asthma clinic services are available everyday of the week.

Chronic Pulmonary Disease
We manage a whole range of chronic lung disorders including (and not limited to) bronchiectasis, interstitial lung diseases to bronchopulmonary dysplasia and cystic fibrosis.

We also have multi-disciplinary clinics for children with neuromuscular disorders for evaluation and monitoring of their respiratory status and management of respiratory complications.

For the management of more advanced disease, we provide home respiratory support care and home ventilatory services.

A full range of pulmonary function tests and radiological and pathological facililities are available for diagnosis and evaluation. Sweat testing by pilocarpine iontophoresis for the screening of cystic fibrosis is also available in our centre.

We also work closely with our paediatric physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists and social workers and other paramedical staff to provide holistic care for these children with chronic respiratory disorders.

Speech and swallowing problems
Children with swallowing disorders may present with feeding problems and/or recurrent or chronic lung disease.

We provide clinical evaluation of patients suspected these difficulties. The evaluation is made through a multi-disciplinary approach together with our swallowing specialists and may involve laryngoscopy/bronchoscopy or videofluoroscopy. After the diagnosis has been made, the patient is then managed and closely monitored.

We also provide assessment and rehabilitation after tracheostomies including training for speech and vocalisation.

Paediatric Sleep Clinic and Polysomnography Service (Sleep Study for Children)
We provide a comprehensive screening and diagnostic service for patients with suspected obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome and other sleep-related breathing disorders.

Patients with snoring and breathing abnormalities during sleep are evaluated in our sleep clinics.

We provide full polysomnography service which includes all standard parameters acoording to international guidelines. These include respiratory recordongs, oxygen saturation, expired carbon dioxide levels as well as electroencephalography and electromyography to determine the quality and quantity of sleep and arousals as well as the respiratory and gas-exchange abnormalities that can occur. Following diagnosis and evaluation, we will be able to institute the appropriate treatment.

Paediatric Home Assisted Ventilation Programme
We provide evaluation and management of patients with chronic respiratory failure requiring assisted ventilation. Titration of home ventilatory requirements and assistance with home equipment specifications is provided. Training for the family and patient together with rehabilitation services are available. Home acute management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is taught to the parents, guardians by our trained specialists and respiratory therapist. We also provide a home-visit service (for selected patients) where the specialist team visits the patient’s home and blood investigations are sent back to the hospital for analysis.

Paediatric Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy Service
We provide paediatric flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy for a whole range of patients, from newborn to adolescents for both diagnostic and therapeutic indications. Transbronchial biopsy, transbronchial brushings and bronchoalveolar lavage can be performed. Most procedures can be performed under sedation without the need for general anaesthesia.
Pulmonary function and Allergy testing

We perform a comprehensive range of pulmonary function tests including spirometry, lung volumes, diffusion capacity, exercise bronchoprovocation tests as well as exhaled nitric oxide levels. We also have facilities for lung function assessment in preschool children using impedance oscillometry. As allergy is an integral part of asthma, we provide a comprehensive allergy testing service with our allergy service, both in vitro (blood-testing) and in vivo (skin prick testing) for the diagnosis and evaluation of allergy.

For appointment, click here.