Cleveland Clinic Joins Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s Care Center Network

Cleveland Clinic has been named a designated Care Center of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF). Cleveland Clinic’s Interstitial Lung Disease Program joins a network of more than 60 Care Centers across the U.S. specializing in the diagnosis, management and treatment of individuals with pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

“We’re excited that our efforts to provide world-class care to all patients with pulmonary fibrosis have been recognized by the foundation,” says Daniel Culver, DO, Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine.

Cleveland Clinic’s Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Program provides multidisciplinary patient- and family-centered care for patients living with conditions including pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, chronic beryllium disease, lymphangioleiomyomatosis and other interstitial lung problems. The program partners with patients and their families to deliver high-quality care that respects patient preferences, needs and values. Members of the team work closely with the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases to treat connective tissue diseases. A weekly multidisciplinary conference typically focuses on cases in which the diagnosis has been challenging. After a discussion, a consensus diagnosis is reached for the majority of cases.

Expertise from bench to bedside

Our multidisciplinary team treats local and national patients and conducts groundbreaking bench research and clinical trials. The Olman lab demonstrated that transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) mediates the mechanosensing signal in fibroblasts, and their subsequent research could lead to novel therapeutic agents for IPF. The clinical program includes physicians from pulmonary medicine, rheumatology, thoracic surgery, thoracic radiology and pulmonary pathology with extensive experience with ILD.

The program offers invasive and noninvasive diagnostic procedures, pulmonary rehabilitation, pulmonary function testing and assessment, transtracheal oxygen catheter placement and a wide range of clinical trials. The ILD team is often able to manage PF with less invasive and steroid-sparing options. For patients with advanced disease, the program works closely with Cleveland Clinic’s Lung Transplant Program, one of the busiest and most experienced in the world.

To refer a patient with PF, contact 855.REFER.123.