Interstitial and Rare Lung Disease (IRLD) Clinic
As part of pulmonary medicine, the Interstitial and Rare Lung Disease (IRLD) Clinic is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of rare lung diseases of childhood. Our multidisciplinary team approach to care will help support patients and their families as they manage lung disease.
This clinic is the first at Nationwide Children's to cater specifically to rare lung diseases impacting the pulmonary interstitium. These diagnoses are generally complicated to identify and manage, making a centralized medical home an important part of their care. We treat patients who are suspected to have interstitial lung disease (abnormal chest CT or X-ray imaging, abnormal breathing, low oxygen levels) or pulmonary complications of other diseases (immune dysfunction, genetic disorders, rheumatologic disorders, post solid organ or bone marrow transplantation).
Our clinic utilizes a team of providers, including doctors, nurses, dietitians, social workers and respiratory therapists, to support families as patients undergo diagnostic testing and management of interstitial and rare lung diseases. We provide full lung function testing in clinic and have access to further imaging, laboratory, genetic and surgical biopsy testing as needed. For patients who have severe lung disease, consultation with the lung transplantation team is available.
Visits will involve meeting with the pulmonary doctor and an initial review of imaging studies. Age-appropriate lung function testing will be done in the office, with further testing scheduled as needed. Additional interactions with social work, dietary, child life and respiratory therapy will be arranged during the visit as clinically indicated.
Katelyn Krivchenia, MD, is the director of the IRLD Clinic. Sarah Cohen, MD, specializes in pulmonary hypertension that may be associated with interstitial lung disease. Both doctors are members of the Children's Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease Research Network and participate in the U.S. chILD Patient Registry.
Specific Conditions Addressed by IRLD Clinic
Interstitial and rare lung diseases (this is an umbrella term encompassing hundreds of diagnoses). Some examples include:
- NEHI (neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy)
- Surfactant deficiencies
- Short telomere disorders
- Bronchiolitis obliterans
- Interstitial lung disease from rheumatologic, immunologic or genetic disorders