The Professorial Respiratory Centre offers specialised treatment for a wide range of breathing related disorders.
1. Severe Asthma and allied allergic and vasculitic respiratory disorders
We have a special interest in caring for patients with severe asthma, respiratory allergy and pulmonary vasculitis. Our team of doctors, clinical nurse specialists and pulmonary physiologists treats a large cohort of patients with the main asthma phenotypes such as allergic asthma, eosinophilic asthma and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease. We have a therapeutic interest in Monoclonal Antibody Therapy, Bronchial Thermoplasty, and Allergen Immunotherapy. The Professorial Respiratory Centre is a member of the Tallaght Vasculitis & Allergy Group (TVAG). This interdisciplinary grouping of consultants is involved in the management of rare vasculitis and allergic lung conditions such as Churg Straus Syndrome, Wegener’s Granulomatosis, Hypereosinophilic syndrome, Anaphylaxis and Immunodeficiency. We run an active clinical research unit and are involved in multiple ongoing investigational studies into these conditions.
2. Pulmonary Fibrosis
In our National Pulmonary Fibrosis Centre, we care for patients with Pulmonary Fibrosis referred nationally from Consultant and GP colleagues. One of the largest in Europe, we have a multidisciplinary team of specialist nurses, physiotherapists, pulmonary function specialists, pharmacists and medical doctors who look after referred patients. In addition, the Centre runs joint clinics with our Rheumatology and Nephrology colleagues. It supports the cutting-edge research which is ongoing within the Professorial Respiratory Centre and Trinity College Dublin, seeking to discover why people get Pulmonary Fibrosis, and trying to develop potentially novel therapies to treat the disorder.
3. Disorders of Sleep and Ventilation
We help and treat patients with respiratory symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (snoring, witnessed apnoeas, nocturnal arousals and daytime sleepiness). We investigate using inpatient full or limited sleep studies, or home overnight oximetry studies. We manage patient treatment with nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in our 25 bed Respiratory unit in Peamount Healthcare. This includes therapy setup, titration, and monitoring.
We also assist patients with ventilatory failure caused by a variety of conditions including obesity hypoventilation disorders, OSA/ COPD overlap syndrome, Kyphoscoliosis, Muscular dystrophies and Motor Neuron Disease. We care for and manage the treatment of these patients with inpatient non-invasive ventilation (NIV) therapy setup, titration, and monitoring in our Respiratory unit in Peamount Healthcare.
We provide clinic follow-up for patients on both CPAP and NIV therapy.
4. COPD We provide acute management of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease through the Emergency Department and the Acute Medical Unit in Tallaght University Hospital. We assist and support patients with Early Supported Home Discharge from Tallaght University Hospital through our special COPD Outreach service. For those in need of ongoing inpatient care, we provide in patient rehab in our 25 bed Respiratory unit in Peamount Healthcare.
We run an Oxygen and NIV Assessment clinic, and offer a variety of educational and training courses for patients. These include diagnosis, inhaler technique, and smoking cessation. We also offer an eight week outpatient rehabilitation course at both Tallaght University Hospital and Peamount Healthcare.
5. Lung Cancer
Our Lung Cancer Service operates in conjunction with our sister service at St. James’s Hospital, Naas General Hospital and Peamount Healthcare. The Centre treats c.170 new cases of lung cancer per annum. Patient care is provided by a multidisciplinary team of consultant staff including respiratory physicians, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, radiologists and histo pathologists, specialist lung cancer nursing staff and database co-ordinators backed up by our pulmonary function laboratory and bronchoscopy services. Lung cancer clinics for patients are held weekly, as is a formal multidisciplinary clinic. These provide the focal point of this care.
