Pneumology treatment in Germany

Pneumology is the study of diseases of the respiratory organs. The Protestant  Lung Hospital run by Paul Gerhardt Diakonie is a traditional thoracic center and deals with all illnesses of the lungs and related organs.

The Pneumology Clinic provides treatment for patients with thoracic tumors, especially lung carcinoma, as well as infectious diseases of the respiratory tract such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.

There is a weaning center for patients with respiratory insufficiency. The clinic also specializes in outpatient and inpatient provision for patients with interstitial diseases, with a particular focus on lung fibrosis.

In addition, the clinic treats and conducts research into rarer diseases such as alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). As these diseases often affect several organ systems, it is important to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to therapy in specialist centers, as for example in our Berlin-Buch PAH Network.

All examinations are conducted on an inpatient and outpatient basis depending on the clinical examination status. The infrastructure of the Pneumology Clinic includes a specialist outpatient pneumological-oncological service that makes it possible to treat all patients with thoracic tumors as outpatients.

Since January 2009, the clinic has operated a special outpatient service for the treatment of patients with high lung pressure in line with Section 116 b SGB V (German Social Security Code). The Pneumology Clinic is part of the Lung Cancer Center, which has been certified by the major German cancer charity Deutsche Krebshilfe.

Furthermore, thanks to the active collaboration of specialists from the Pneumology Clinic with the German Society for Pneumology, the clinical and underlying scientific quality of patient care can be monitored by participation in the latest studies.

The Berlin-Buch Tumor Center is the only one if its kind and allows us to check the long-term outcomes of all patients with thoracic tumors.

Diagnostic procedures

• Interventional bronchology including all flexible and rigid procedures. In particular, endobronchial stent implantation and tumor elimination using APC and laser.
• Lung function diagnostics including stress examinations (e.g. ergooxytensiometry)
• General and special allergy diagnostics – focus on hyposensitization (bees / wasps)
• Sleep-related respiratory disorders. A polysomnography service is available to treat patients with such disorders on an outpatient basis.
• Cardiorespiratory function diagnostics including spiroergometry, right heart catheter diagnostics, transthoracic and transesophageal echo­cardiography.

Methods of treatment

• Endobronchial therapy (laser therapy, brachytherapy, short-distance radiation of respiratory tract, argon-plasma coagulation, stent implantation)
• Medicinal therapy for all acute and chronic lung and respiratory tract diseases, in particular treatment of lung carcinoma patients based on latest studies
• Medicinal therapy using chemotherapy – oral, intravascular and local, e.g. intrathecal
• Palliative medical care in case of complex treatments
• Tuberculosis treatment
• Mechanical ventilation therapy (e.g. CPAP, BiPAP) in case of sleep-related respiratory disorders and severe respiratory insufficiency including home-based ventilation
• Long-term oxygen therapy at weaning centre, respiratory insufficiency therapy including non-invasive ventilation.
• Ventilator weaning following long-term ventilation
• Physiotherapy
• Substitution therapy in case of alpha-1-PI deficiency
• Hyposensitization in case of allergy to insect venom