Interventional Pulmonary

The University of Cincinnati Interventional Pulmonology (IP) Service is one of the 34 fellowship programs recognized by the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (AABIP). It started in 2010 under the leadership and vision of Dr. Sadia Benzaquen, former IP attending, Dr. Rick Balestra, former IP nurse practitioner, Michelle Kirschner, and former IP schedulers, Susan Smith and Tiffany Logan. Throughout the years, it has exponentially grown to include Dr. Alejandro Aragaki (IP attending), Danielle Caudell-Stamper (IP nurse practitioner), and Dawn Harden (IP RN coordinator). We also train an IP fellow on a yearly basis and have the UC pulmonary fellows to rotate with our service.

The IP service is the only service in the Greater Cincinnati area with all of the attending physicians being board certified as diplomats of the AABIP. As such, the IP program offers unique expertise in benign and malignant airway pathology (rigid bronchoscopy with mechanical/laser tumor destruction and silicone/metallic stent placement), pleural disease (medical thoracoscopy, PleurX catheter placement), lung cancer screening (lung nodule sampling through navigational and EBUS bronchoscopy), bronchoscopic treatment of asthma (bronchial thermoplasty), emphysema and persistent air leak (endobronchial valve placement) and excessive dynamic airway collapse (bronchoscopy with CPAP titration). We also support the medical ICU with percutaneous tracheostomy and PEG placement, foreign body removal (cryotherapy) and hemoptysis management (APC).

Research in Interventional Pulmonology is a major area of interest. Our current clinical trials include the EMPROVE trial (bronchoscopic lung volume reduction in severe emphysema), VAST trial (endobronchial valve placement for persistent air leak), BRAVE trial (transbronchial lung cryobiopsy in interstitial lung disease) and PERCEPTA trial (use of genomic markers to predict malignancy of a lung nodule). We have a strong interest in transbronchial lung cryobiopsies for the diagnosis of undifferentiated interstitial lung disease in the outpatient and ICU setting.

The IP service provides a comprehensive workup for a large variety of pulmonary problems:

• We play a pivotal role in the lung cancer screening program at UC along with Radiology, Oncology and Thoracic Surgery.
• We have a collaborative working relationship with the departments of anesthesiology, ENT and Thoracic Surgery at UC Medical Center.
• We are the top academic medical center of excellence for bronchial thermoplasty, endobronchial valve placement and transbronchial lung cryobiopsy based on our patient volume.

We utilize EPIC Chart System and have the MyChart portal available for patient use.

For an appointment in the Interventional Pulmonology Outpatient Clinic at the Holmes Hospital (3^rd floor), please call 513-475-8523.

Address: 200 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45220.
Appointments are available Monday afternoons and Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.