Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine

A 57-year-old woman presents with worsening shortness of breath over the course of six months. She has lost seven pounds in the past three months and has developed a nonproductive cough. She has never smoked, and has no known mold or work-related exposures. Her only pet is a cockatiel she has had for 18 months. […]

Posts have been on a brief break but will re-launch on Feb1st.  Posts for both outpatient clinic as well as critical care topics will be uploaded.  Stay tuned.

Your 54-year-old male patient who is a lifelong nonsmoker comes back to your office for followup of a RUL nodule after a recent biopsy you performed revealed stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. His oncologist said that a “signet ring” sign was seen on his biopsy and that he has a gene abnormality seen on […]

A new 35 yo patient is referred to you for evaluation of cough.  She has had 2 weeks of non-productive cough that has been worsening, to the point of her having fits of cough and post-tussive emesis. Her symptoms started she experienced generalized malaise, but no fever or chills.  She denies post-nasal drip, and has […]

A 38-year-old Korean woman who immigrated to California 6 monthsago complains of weight loss, fever, cough, arthralgia,and frequentbouts of hemoptysis for the past 4 months. She has had no perceptible fever. Chest roentgenograms show a 4.0-cm cavity in the right upper lobe with associated infiltrate. There is a BCG scar on her left arm associated […]

Your 25-year-old female patient with a history of asthma returns to clinic again after you sent additional testing.  Her FEV1/FVC of 70% and FEV1 60% predicted are unimproved despite your inhaler therapy. How did you classify her asthma? You performed HRCT of the chest which revealed multiple areas of bronchoarterial ratio >1, thickened bronchial walls, […]

Your 54-year-old male patient is undergoing evaluation for dyspnea. He is a lifelong nonsmoker. A  CT scan was performed by his primary care physician and a 2.5cm RUL lesion with spiculated border is noted, with a 1.4cm satellite nodule in the same lobe of the lung.  There is a 7mm subcarinal lymph node seen, but […]

You’re seeing a 25-year-old female patient with a history of asthma for a new patient evaluation. She is a lifelong nonsmoker, and gives a history of 1-2 tablespoons of sputum production daily.  On review of systems she has a history of intermittent crampy abdominal pain that hasn’t been formally evaluated yet. Results of in-office spirometry […]