Department of Respiratory Medicine @ Ospedale San Raffaele
The Unit of Respiratory Medicine is an outpatient-based consultant led unit which provides specialist support including noninvasive mechanical ventilation for a 1000+ bed University hospital.
It is equipped with a complete function laboratory and shares an endoscopy unit with the Division of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. George Cremona, lecturer and coordinator of the course of Respiratory Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine at the San Raffaele University heads the unit consisting of a part time clinical specialist, two laboratory technicians and 2 registered nurses.
The Unit runs daily outpatient clinics for general respiratory diseases and disease specific clinics for severe asthma, chronic respiratory failure and long term mechanical ventilation as well as sleep medicine.
Dedicated clinics are also run for pulmonary hpertension (IPAH) and interstitial lung disease including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for which it is a recognized regional referral centre providing all diagnostic tests including right-heart catheterization and lung biopsy (in collaboration with the Thoracic Surgical unit). It forms part of a multidisciplinary specialist team for diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. The unit performs around 12000 diagnostic tests and specialty consultations per year.
Our excellence in numbers
Conditions we take care of at this Department
Bronchial Asthma
- The Unit forms part of a multidisciplinary team along with the Units of Allergology and ENT for the diagnosis and treatment of bronchial asthma with a special interest in severe asthma and treatment and treatment with monoclonal antibodies
- We offer state of the art diagnostic procedures such as spirometry pletismography, exhaled nitric oxide, bronchoscopy and lavage, forced oscillation technque and impulse oscillomtery
Interstitial lung disease
- We provide a complete multidisciplinary diagnostic workup including imaging, endoscopic and surgical cytology and histhology as well complete lung function and exercise tests enabling accurate diagnosis personalised treatment for a wide range of interstitial lung diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, connestive disease and drug associated interstitial lung disease.
Pulmonary hypertension
- A full range of diagnostic and multidisciplinary extertise is employed in the diagnosis, staging and treatment of this condition wihich includes echocardiogrpahy, lung function and cardiopulmonary exercise tests, right heart catheterization and acute vasodilator trials
Notable advanced technological equipment
- Impulse oscillometry, exhaled nitric oxide
Meet our team
Head physician
George Cremona
The San Raffaele Research Hospital is a highly specialized multi-disciplinary medical center of world importance, which embodies the integrity of the treatment, clinical research and teaching activities. San Raffaele provides treatment in all existing medical fields, which allows this center to take care of the most complex patient cases. The Hospital is recognized as IRCCS (Scientific Institute for Research and Healthcare) for its research in molecular medicine and innovative treatments application, such as the gene therapy.
The hospital is a multi-specialty center with more than 50 clinical specialties available and with over 1600 beds; it is accredited by the Italian National Health System to provide care to both public and private, Italian and international patients. In 2018 the San Raffaele Hospital performed over 51,000 patient admissions, 72,000 emergency room encounters and delivered over 1.5 million outpatient medical services. It is widely regarded as the most celebrated hospital in the country and among the most reputable medical centers in Europe. San Raffaele’s wards and operating theatres are equipped with the most advanced machines, such as PET, PET/CT, Gamma Knife, Cyber Knife, Rapid Arc, Tomotherapy. San Raffaele’s Radiotherapy Unit was the first place in Europe to install Tomotherapy in 2004. Nowadays this Unit confirms to be one of the most experienced worldwide; it has developed numerous protocols for cancer treatment of the prostate, breast, central nervous system, brain, liver, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and others. The Oncological Board of the Hospital consisting of diagnosticians, clinical oncologists, immunologists, surgeons and radiotherapists, hold weekly meetings to discuss oncological patients’ pathways in a multidisciplinary manner.
Beside its Cancer Center, San Raffaele is well-known for its medical know-how in cardiology and cardiac surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal tract surgery, liver surgery, pancreas surgery, transplant medicine, gynecology and obstetrics, urology, dermatology, ophthalmology, immunology, rheumatology and pediatrics.
San Raffaele is a pioneer in the field of gene medicine and treatment of rare immunologic and genetic diseases. San Raffaele Scientific Institute is where the first in the world gene therapy with stem cells was created, named Strimvelis, for patients affected by ADA-SCID syndrome.
The Research at the San Raffaele Hospital focuses on integrating basic, translational and clinical research to provide the most advanced care to the patients. It counts on over 1,500 scientists, working in state-of-the-art facilities covering a surface of 130,000 square meters, and have produced over 1,446 scientific publications in 2018. Research at San Raffaele aims at understanding the mechanisms underlying a variety of important human diseases and at identifying new targets and new therapeutic strategies to treat them.
The San Raffaele Hospital hosts the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, a fully private university with a complete Medical School (including specialty courses and residencies), Nursing School, a Psychology graduate and post-graduate programs, and Allied Health Professions School. The mission of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University is to answer the question "Quid est homo?" in the belief that the human being is a biological, psychological and spiritual unicum. Since 2010 the San Raffaele Hospital also hosts the International MD Program, the only graduate program accredited to license Medical Doctors in both Europe and North America.
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