Yale-PCCSM Newsletter

Pulmonary rehabilitation is an essential treatment for patients with chronic respiratory disease. But for many people in the U.S., programs are far away.

A new study shows that deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence that uses large amounts of data to process information, can improve the detection of patients with asthma and COPD who are at increased risk for multiple hospitalizations.

In October 2023, the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) honored Carolyn Rochester, MD, FCCP, professor of medicine, with the prestigious Thomas L. Petty Distinguished Pulmonary Scholar Award. The award is presented to an individual “who has made significant advances in the field of pulmonary rehabilitation through research and scholarly contributions and has earned national prominence in the field.”

The new Yale Bronchiectasis and NTM Infections Program at the Winchester Center for Lung Disease specializes in treating patients with chronic respiratory tract infections, including one caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria.

The Winchester Center for Lung Disease (WCLD) opened in March 2021 at the North Haven Medical Center to improve access to exceptional care for more people with lung conditions. The expanded facilities at the Winchester Center have allowed expansion of subspecialized pulmonary care as well as access to a wide array of multidisciplinary services, more than what was possible at the original Winchester Chest Clinic (WCC) on Yale New Haven Hospital’s York Street Campus.

The Yale Interventional Pulmonary team in Yale’s Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine (Yale-PCCSM) employs advanced technologies to diagnose and treat diseases in the chest, such as lung nodules and masses, lymph node enlargement, complex airways, and pleural effusions. The program, led by Kyle Bramley, MD, assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary), was one of the first interventional pulmonology programs in Connecticut when it was established in 2009. Today it remains the largest interventional pulmonary service in the state.

Two leaders from the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine presented honor lectures at this year’s American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) annual meeting, which took place on October 8–11, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Older adults who survive a critical illness, such as sepsis or respiratory failure, often have symptoms that restrict activities, but little is known about how these symptoms change over time or compare with those prior to illness, and whether these changes differ among vulnerable subgroups. In a new study, Yale researchers evaluated changes in restricting symptoms among adults aged 70 or older during the six months after discharge from the ICU or intensive care unit.

Lauren Ferrante, MD, MHS, assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine), was awarded a Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the project Evaluating the Unmet Needs of Older Adults to Promote Functional Recovery After a Critical Illness (LANTERN).