OSWEGO – April 3, 2024, Oswego Health cares about the community’s lung health and today, a grand opening was celebrated as their Pulmonary Function Testing Lab (PFT) which closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officially reopened and is ready to provide local testing to the community.
PFTs are noninvasive tests that show how well the lungs are working. The tests measure lung volume, capacity, rates of flow, and gas exchange.
There are many different reasons why PFTs may be done. They are sometimes done in healthy people as part of a routine physical. They are also routinely done in certain types of work environments to ensure employee health (such as graphite factories and coal mines). Or you may have PFTs if your healthcare provider needs help to diagnose you with a health problem such as:
- Allergies
- Respiratory infections
- Trouble breathing from injury to the chest or a recent surgery
- Chronic lung conditions, such as asthma, bronchiectasis, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis
- Asbestosis is a lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers
- Restrictive airway problems from scoliosis, tumors, inflammation, or scarring of the lungs
- Sarcoidosis is a disease that causes lumps of inflammatory cells around organs, such as the liver, lungs, and spleen
- Scleroderma is a disease that causes the thickening and hardening of connective tissue
PFTs may be used to check lung function before surgery or other procedures in patients who have lung or heart problems, who are smokers, or who have other health conditions. Another use of PFTs is to assess treatment for asthma, emphysema, and other chronic lung problems.
With over twelve years of experience, Respiratory Therapist, Todd Davison will be managing the PFT Lab at Oswego Health and conducting the following tests:
- Basic Spirometry
- Pre & Post Spirometry
- Complete Pulmonary Function Testing with or without a bronchodilator
- Industrial Screening
- Plethysmography (Lung Volume Determination)
- Nitrogen Washout
- Diffusing Capacity
- Methacholine Challenge Test
- Simple Pulmonary Exercise Test (6-minute walk test)
- Arterial Blood Gases
- Pre-Op Pulmonary Function Testing
For more information on the PFT Lab at Oswego Health visit www.oswegohealth.org or call 315-349-5704. Provider referrals are being accepted now for patients ages 8 years and older.
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