The respiratory care team at Ascension St. Vincent's Lung Institute - Riverside listens to understand your health needs. Our pulmonologists offer a wide range of tests for symptoms that affect how you breathe and sleep. Through our outpatient clinics, we offer specialized care for many lung conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer, cystic fibrosis, lung infections, recurring bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, sleep apnea and more.
Ascension St. Vincent’s pulmonary medicine and sleep medicine specialists offer many types of procedure and services which include:
- Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation
- Endobronchial ultrasound biopsy
- Oxygen therapy
- Pulmonary function testing
- Pulmonary hypertension management
- Sleep lab testing and CPAP therapy
- Stop smoking programs
- Vasodilator medication therapy
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Lung Nodule program
The Ascension St. Vincent’s Lung Institute Lung Nodule Clinic provides screenings, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment for lung nodules. Getting a screening such as a low-dose CT scan may help find lung nodules or cancer early, when it is most treatable. If lung nodules are found, we surveillance them for cancer. Finding cancer early means there may be more options for treatment too.
If you are diagnosed with cancer, we can connect you with a specialist that’s right for you. Our specialized team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons who work together to deliver the care that’s right for you.
Lung Nodule Clinic services include:
- Fast access to initial consultation appointments. You are generally seen within a week after receiving your referral.
- Evaluation of single or multiple nodules. We can also provide recommendations for additional testing, monitoring, and treatment.
- Minimally invasive procedures to evaluate nodules, diagnose cancer, and to help manage your symptoms.
- Coordination of specialty care with thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists.
Sleep medicine
If you experience excessive daytime sleepiness or fatigue, you may be suffering from a sleep disorder. Ascension St. Vincent’s Sleep Disorders Centers can help you get the rest you need. We have doctors who specialize in sleep-related medical concerns. Common sleep disorders include:
- Circadian rhythm disorders
- Insomnia
- Narcolepsy
- Parasomnia
- Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD)
- Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
- Sleep apnea
- Snoring
For sleep medicine studies, our care team offers in-hospital sleep lab testing and home-based sleep tests. Our sleep specialists treat many types of sleep disorders from obstructive sleep apnea to snoring and insomnia.
Additional services
Not being able to take a deep breath or feel rested can affect other aspects of your physical and emotional health. Our doctors take the time to answer your questions. We offer diagnostic testing and treatments close to home. Pulmonary tests, therapies and procedures that include, but are not limited to:
- Robotic interventional procedures
- Bronchoscopies
- Inspire device implantation
- Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation
- Endobronchial ultrasound biopsy
- Oxygen therapy
- Pulmonary function testing
- Pulmonary hypertension management
- In lab sleep and CPAP therapy
- Home sleep testing
IonTM robotic-assisted technology
Lung nodules are common and appear as white shadows on a chest X-ray or lung CT scan. With the Ion robotic-assisted bronchoscope, our doctor can extract a tissue sample as small as one centimeter. Our new technology helps improve the early detection of lung cancer and access hard-to-reach nodules in the lung. Your doctor creates a 3D image-guided road map of the airways and to the nodule. Using the robotic-assisted technology, the thoracic surgeon guides a catheter and Ion’s vision probe to deliver a real-time view of the airways while navigating to the target. A flexible biopsy tool extracts a tissue sample so it can be evaluated by the pathologist for cancer cells and staging. The IonTM System has built-in flexibility to adjust as the patient breathes. These features help minimize complications.
Compared to CT-guided lung biopsy, the IonTM Bronchoscopy System is faster, less invasive and patients report fewer side effects.
Robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is one of many tools used by our dedicated lung cancer specialists at Ascension St. Vincent’s. Our pulmonary medicine doctors, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists, nurse navigators and rehabilitation therapists meet biweekly in the Lung Cancer Tumor Conference to confer and update each patient’s care plan. We follow nationally established guidelines for lung cancer staging, and deliver innovative treatments with advanced care options.
- Total cases performed to date: 144*
- Average nodule size: 1.8 cm*
- Diagnosis achieved: 92%*
- Regional leader in Ion cases
*Statistics as of 5/10/2021
Robotic-assisted procedures for lung nodules
Lung nodules are common and can be seen on a chest X-ray or lung CT scan. At Ascension St. Vincent’s, our surgeons use IonTM, a robotic-assisted bronchoscope. Robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that can be used to view and biopsy nodules. This technology helps improve the early detection of lung cancer and access hard-to-reach nodules in the lungs. Your doctor creates a 3D image-guided map of the airways and to the nodule. Then, your surgeon guides a catheter with a camera into the airways to deliver a real-time view while navigating to the nodule. A flexible biopsy tool is used to gather tissue samples so it can be tested for cancer cells. The IonTM System has built-in flexibility to adjust as the patient breathes. These features help minimize complications.
Robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure.
Robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is one of many tools used by our lung cancer specialists at Ascension St. Vincent’s. Our pulmonary medicine doctors, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists, nurse navigators and rehabilitation therapists meet regularly in the Lung Cancer Tumor Conference to share new research and best practices, and to review each patient’s care plan. We follow nationally established guidelines for lung cancer staging, and deliver innovative treatments with advanced care options.
