Hunterdon Pulmonary & Critical Care

Welcome to Hunterdon Pulmonary & Critical Care. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with specialized and sophisticated care to meet your pulmonary and critical care needs. The goal of our practice is to provide individualized treatment in pulmonology as well as the best care available for your health.

A pulmonologist is a physician who specializes in treating disorders related to the lungs and respiratory system. Our physicians are board-certified in Pulmonology, Interventional Pulmonology, Sleep, Critical Care, and Internal Medicine.

Services

• Asthma – A common long-term inflammatory disease, asthma affects the airways, making them swollen, inflamed, and narrow. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, with a range in severity. Although asthma cannot be cured, with proper treatment it can be controlled.
• Bronchitis – An inflammation of the bronchial tube lining, bronchitis may be acute or chronic. Acute bronchitis is very common, often develops from a cold or respiratory infection, and improves within a short time without lasting effects. Chronic bronchitis is a more serious condition and constant irritation/inflammation that is often due to smoking.
• Bronchiectasis - A chronic condition where the walls of the bronchi are thickened from inflammation and infection. People with bronchiectasis have periodic flare-ups of breathing difficulties, called exacerbations.
• COPD (Clinic – Tuesday & Friday) - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe and worsens over time. Also known as cigarette smokers’ lung disease, COPD can cause coughing (producing large amounts of mucus), wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are forms of COPD.
• Emphysema - Develops over time and involves the gradual damage of lung tissue, specifically the destruction of the alveoli (tiny air sacs). Gradually, this damage causes the air sacs to rupture and create one big air pocket instead of many small ones. This reduction in the lung surface area traps air in the damaged tissue and prevents oxygen from moving through the bloodstream. Additionally, this blockage causes the lungs to slowly overfill and makes breathing increasingly more difficult.
• Lung Cancer - Develops when cells in the lung change (or mutate). Most often, this is because of exposure to dangerous chemicals that we breathe. But lung cancer can also happen in people with no known exposure to toxic substances. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells grow uncontrollably and cluster together to form a tumor, destroying healthy lung tissue around them.
• Oximetry - An electronic device that measures the saturation of oxygen carried in your red blood cells. Pulse oximeters can be attached to your fingers, forehead, nose, foot, ears or toes. The device may then be reused or disposed of. If using this in a home setting, you should ask your healthcare provider before disposing of a pulse ox device, as it can be expensive and is reusable.
• Pulmonary Embolism/DVT - A blood clot that breaks loose and travels through the circulatory system until it reaches the lungs. There, it lodges in the lung arteries and begins to block the normal flow of blood in the lungs.
• Pulmonary Fibrosis – A respiratory disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred, pulmonary fibrosis can cause serious breathing issues. The lung scarring may be caused by a myriad of factors, and in most cases, the cause is not known. Pulmonary fibrosis causes irreparable damage but symptoms can be eased by proper medications and therapies. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common type of pulmonary fibrosis. It is a disease that causes scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs. The word "idiopathic" means it has no known cause. Scarring causes stiffness in the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe.
• Sarcoidosis - an inflammatory disease that can affect many organs of the body, most commonly the lungs. The inflammation causes the formation of nodules, called granulomas, in the affected organs.
• Shortness of Breath – Medically known as dyspnea, shortness of breath can be a frightening sensation. Often described as an intense tightening in the chest, people experiencing dyspnea often feel that they are not getting adequate oxygen when they breathe. Strenuous exercise, obesity, and temperature extremes can cause dyspnea in a healthy person, but outside of those factors, it may be a sign of a medical problem. Most cases are due to disorders such as asthma, pneumonia, lung disease and more.
• Spirometry/Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing
• Pulmonary Hypertension - is a serious condition where there is abnormally high pressure in the blood vessels between the lungs and the heart.
• Interventional Pulmonology Services:
  • Bronchoscopy
  • Electromagnetic Navigational Bronchoscopy
  • Endobronchial Ultrasound Guided Bronchoscopy (EBUS)
  • Indwelling Pleural Catheters (Pleurx)
  • Tracheal and Bronchial Stents
  • Thoracentesis

Symptoms of Breathing Disorders

• Shortness of breath
• Frequent coughing
• Wheezing
• Chest congestion
• Chest discomfort
• Throat tightness
• Noisy breathing
• Strenuous breathing
• Production of mucus

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• Insomnia
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Obstructive and Central Sleep Apnea

A sleep study at the Sleep Disorders Center at Hunterdon Medical Center takes place in a state-of-the-art sleep center, yet is outfitted with all the comforts of a home bedroom. During a sleep study, a skilled technologist will evaluate you for sleep-related breathing problems and movement disorders. If a night at the Sleep Disorders Center is not for you, we also offer home studies.

Evaluation

How do I get evaluated at the Sleep Center?
At the Sleep Disorders Center, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire about your sleep habits and any sleep complaints you may have. A clinical evaluation is then scheduled with a physician who specializes in sleep disorders. If you are determined to be at risk for a sleep disorder, a sleep study, or polysomnogram, will be ordered.

Diagnosis

What happens when I participate in a sleep study?
During a sleep study, you will spend the night under observation in private, comfortable surroundings. While you sleep, a skilled technologist at Hunterdon Sleep Center evaluates you for sleep-related breathing problems and movement disorders by monitoring:

• oxygen levels
• heart rate and rhythm
• breathing
• body movements
• airflow
• brain waves

This detailed information is then reviewed and interpreted by a sleep specialist to determine if a sleep disorder is present. Daytime nap studies are also performed to evaluate daytime sleepiness.

The sleep specialist then provides a diagnosis and, if necessary, treatment plans.

Treatment

How do I get treatment?
There are a variety of effective and proven treatment methods available for sleep disorders, many of which are nonsurgical and noninvasive. A complete report of your evaluation will be sent to your primary physician.

If a patient is diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea during a sleep study at the Sleep Disorder Center at Hunterdon Medical Center, we may prescribe a device called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. A medical equipment supplier is available onsite in the sleep center so that patients can go home with their device as soon as the evaluation is complete.

What is the cost?

Most health insurance plans cover the cost of sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment. The staff of the Sleep Disorders Center will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Pre-certification may be required with some insurance plans.

Contact Information:

The Sleep Disorders Center
2100 Wescott Drive, 4th Floor
Flemington, NJ 08822
Phone: 908-237-5508
Fax: 908-788-6649

• Inpatient Care – Pulmonology
• Intensive Care Unit (ICU) – Critical Care