Planned Pediatric Exercise Physiology Lab to Support Advanced Lung Disease Care

The pediatric pulmonology experts at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center plan to establish a dedicated pediatric exercise physiology lab to expand the team’s ability to diagnose, stratify, and monitor all types of lung disease in children.

The lab will support future plans to develop a regional referral center for diffuse lung disease care, with the goal of creating a unified program for patients from birth through adulthood.

“The center would care for children with congenital and acquired lung conditions, with a focus on complex care and rare lung diseases,” said Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric pulmonology specialist Donna Lee, M.D. “We plan to create a multidisciplinary approach to treat difficult lung diseases. The team will include pulmonology, cardiology, radiology, rheumatology, hematology, and neonatology specialists”

Dr. Lee said the cardiopulmonary exercise lab will study lung and heart function during motion and provide assessment of patients’ functional status and limitations. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing has been used to assess survival, and quantify surgical risk for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases.

Additionally, the lab would also be used to assess children with exercise intolerance to determine the cause of intolerance and whether medical therapy or physical training is needed to improve exercise capability.

“Our current adult exercise physiology lab is at capacity and can provide only testing for pediatric patients” said Dr. Lee. “Having a dedicated pediatric lab will enable physicians to study more patients thus reducing delays and improving care for patients with exercise-related complaints, ultimately leading to earlier diagnosis and improved patient outcomes.”

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