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Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Heersink School of Medicine

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Rare Lung Disease Program

Mission

The Rare Lung Disease Program’s mission is to provide state of the art collaborative evaluation and treatment for patients with rare lung diseases. 

Objectives

1. To discover and develop new and effective therapies for rare lung diseases
2. To better understand disease mechanisms through translational research
3. To educate physicians in training
4. To reach out to the community aiming to enhance rare lung disease awareness and help improve the standards for evaluation, treatment and follow-up of patients     

About Our Practice

This program exists to better understand rare lung diseases, train physicians to more completely treat rare lung diseases, and to drive the creation of superior treatment options. As part of the Rare Lung Disease Clinic Network and member of the Rare Lung Disease Consortium, this program collaborates in the development of novel testing and treatments for rare lung diseases. Additionally, it is an aim of the program to provide information about rare lung diseases to patient, physicians and the public.

 

  • Diseases Treated in the Rare Lung Disease Clinic
    • Lymphangiomatosis (LAM)

    • Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (PLCH)

    • Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP)

    • Birt Hogg-Dubé Syndrome (BHD)

    • Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome (HPS)

    • Sjogren’s Disease with Lung Involvement

    • Lymphocytic Interstitial Pneumonitis

    • Follicular Bronchiolitis

    • Castleman’s Disease

    • Diffuse Idiopathic Neuroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia

    • Benign Metastasizing Leiomyoma

    • Erdheim-Chester Disease

    • IgG4-Related Lung Disease

    • Idiopathic Cystic Lung Disease

    • Plastic Bronchitis

    • Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis

    • Amyloidosis/Light Chain Deposition Disease

    • Fabry’s Disease with Lung Involvement

    • Gaucher’s Disease with Lung Involvement

    • Lupus Disease with Lung Involvement

    • Niemann-Pick Disease with Lung Involvement

Contacting and Referring to the Rare Lung Disease Program

To refer a patient to this program, please contact our office administrator at 205-996-5864 from 8 AM-5 PM, CT, Monday-Friday.

In order to expedite the scheduling and the evaluation process, please forward the following documents to our office as soon as possible:

  1. Last clinic note or referral letter
  2. Pulmonary function tests (PFTs)
  3. Chest X-rays and CT scans - upload films to a CD and attach reports
  4. Lung biopsy slides and reports, if available.

After the appointment is scheduled, your patient will receive a package containing a schedule of tests and appointments, along with the "UAB Rare Lung Disease Patient Questionnaire," maps, and information on lodging in the Kirklin Clinic area.  After the clinic visit and once all data has been reviewed, including any prior biopsies, you will receive either a letter from one of our physicians or a copy the patient's clinic visit note.