Texas Institute of Chest and Sleep Disorders, PA

If you’re familiar with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you know that air is right there at the bottom as one of the most basic. When you can’t breathe, nothing else really matters, which is why pulmonary medicine is so vital to overall health care.

 

The Texas Institute of Chest and Sleep Disorders is a clinic dedicated to the study and treatment of lung afflictions that include acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), asbestosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, hemoptysis, obstructive sleep apnea, pleural effusion, sarcoidosis and more common illnesses such emphysema, tuberculosis, lung cancer, as well as asthma and bronchitis.

 

The Institute provides blood gas analysis, bronchial provocation, bronchoscopy, closed pleural biopsy, peak expiratory flow, pulmonary function tests, polysomnogram, spirometry, and thoracentesis as diagnostic tools and procedures. Some examinations may consist of no more than an x-ray, but at times, it is necessary to use ultrasound tests and CT (“computed tomography”) scans to detect unusual conditions in the chest, such as fluids in (or outside of) the lungs. Sometimes however, detection of these conditions is as simple as tapping the chest lightly and listening (a healthy lung sounds hollow, while a fluid-filled lung responds with a dull sound). Thoracentesis is a procedure which is used not only to examine fluids from the lung, but to remove them when and as necessary.

At the Institute’s website, prospective patients and those wishing to learn more about pulmonary disorders will encounter a wealth of detailed information about virtually all major diseases of the lung and respiratory tract.

 

The doctors at the institute are Alex Lechin, M.D. and Dean Nasser, M.D. Both have extensive experience in their chosen field; Dr. Lechin spent a year as Chief Resident as the J. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University, and was a Clinical Fellow of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the prestigious Baylor College of Medicine. He was received two major research grants for clinical research, and has nearly sixty academic publications in the field of pulmonary medicine to his credit.

 

Dr. Nasser is certified in the treatment of pulmonary disease and maintains memberships in both the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. With an undergraduate degree in economics, Dr. Nasser received his Medical degree at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine in 1998. After his residency in Internal Medicine at San Antonio’s University of Texas Health Science Center, he spent three years as a Fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Tulane University.

 

The Texas Institute of Chest and Sleep Disorders has two campuses in Houston. The Institute is a Medicare provider, and accepts most insurance plans for those fortunate enough to have such coverage. Additional information is available at the Institute website, including informative videos on various conditions of the pulmonary and respiratory system.