Overview
At Cleveland Clinic's Asthma Center, we offer the most advanced diagnostic testing and innovative treatments for adults and children with asthma. Within Cleveland Clinic's Respiratory Institute, the Asthma Center brings together physicians from allergy and immunology, pulmonary and critical care, and sports medicine (for asthma in elite athletes).
For those with asthma and co-existing conditions, such as sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux, vocal cord dysfunction, cataracts, glaucoma or osteoporosis, we also coordinate your care with specialists in gastroenterology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, and speech therapy. Our integrated approach to patient care provides you with state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment services and opportunities to try new medications and therapies through clinical trials.
View Our Treatment Outcomes
Our Outcomes offer detailed information and data to help patients and their physicians make informed decisions about treatment for a wide-range of respiratory issues.
What We Treat
We offer a full range of clinical services including:
- Comprehensive consultation services and ongoing care for refractory asthma (poorly-controlled asthma)
- Occupational and environmental asthma evaluation
- Bronchoprovocation testing with methacholine and exercise
- Testing for suspected sensitivity to foods, food additives, aspirin and allergens
- Specialized testing to determine how well your asthma is being controlled
- Treatment for asthma, including new and innovative therapies from injections to procedures
- Treatment and direction for coexisting conditions that complicate asthma control
- Initial management plans for newly diagnosed asthma cases and continued care when needed
- Comprehensive patient education
Novel Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches
Our physicians have a particular expertise in refractory asthma, or poorly-controlled asthma. For patients with refractory asthma, the Asthma Center offers innovative diagnostic and treatment services that are at the forefront of asthma care including:
- Measurement of inflammatory biomarkers in exhaled breath for patients not responding to therapies, and requiring high doses of corticosteroids
- Bronchoscopic evaluation to identify potential chronic causes of asthma
- Anti-IgE therapy
- Anti-Interleukin-5 therapies
- Bronchial thermoplasty: a new technique designed to reduce the contractility of airway smooth muscle by applying radiofrequency energy to airway walls
- Aspirin desensitization: used to develop tolerance to aspirin and similar drugs for patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease
Health Information
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, becoming more prevalent and more severe in recent years. Asthma causes the airways of the lungs (bronchial tubes) to narrow, the lining of the airways to swell, and the cells that line the airways to produce more mucus. These changes make breathing difficult and cause symptoms, such as cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and excess mucus production.
Learn about symptoms, causes and triggers, diagnostic testing, treatments and management tips for asthma from our Health Library below:
Asthma Overview
Asthma Symptoms, Causes and Triggers
- Asthma Symptoms
- Asthma Causes and Triggers
- Smoking and Asthma
- Exercise-induced Asthma
- Stress and Asthma
- Food Allergies and Asthma
- Infection as an Asthma Trigger
Asthma in Special Populations
Appointments & Locations
To make an appointment, please call 216.444.6503.
Online Second Opinions
We offer second opinions through Cleveland Clinic MyConsult, an effective and secure option for consultation without the time and expense of travel. One of our experts will review your medical records and test results and provide a comprehensive, personalized report, taking care to answer your specific questions.
Locations
Resources
Find additional information on the following helpful links:
American Lung Association
- How To Videos: Resources for Asthma and COPD
- Asthma Control Test: Can help you and your healthcare provider determine if your asthma symptoms are well controlled. Sharing your or a family member's score with a healthcare provider may help them determine your treatment.
Asthma Treatment and Management
- Asthma Treatments
- Alternative Therapy for Asthma
- Bronchial Thermoplasty
- Asthma Management
- Traveling with Asthma
- Exercise and Asthma
Using an Inhaler
- How to Use a Peak Flow Meter
- How to Use a Metered Dose Inhaler
- How to Use Your Flexhaler Dry Powder Inhaler
- How to Use Your Diskus Dry Powder Inhaler
- How to Use Your Turbuhaler Dry Powder Inhaler
Asthma Testing
Research & Clinical Trials
Recommended Research Readings
View helpful research publications on the topic of asthma below:
- Associations of Air Quality with Asthma During the Cleveland Multiple Air Pollutant Study (CMAPS) -Khatri SB, Newman C, Rose J, Ross K, Pillai M, Holstein A, Tailor S, Hammond S, Norris G. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010; 181:A6827.
- Angioplasticity in Asthma - Asosingh K, Erzurum SC.Biochem Soc Trans. 2009 Aug;37(Pt 4):805-10.
- Association of Ambient Ozone Exposure with Airway Inflammation and Allergy in Adults with Asthma -Khatri SB, Holguin FC, Ryan PB, Mannino DM, Erzurum SC, and Teague WG. J of Asthma 2009; 46: 777-785.
- When Should a Methacholine Challenge Be Ordered for a Patient with Suspected Asthma? - Swartz, E, and Lang, D. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2008: 75(1): 37-40.
- Th1- and Th2- Dependent Endothelial Progenitor Cell Recruitment and Angiogenic Switch in Asthma - Asosingh K, Swaidani S, Aronica M, Erzurum SC. J Immunol. 2007, 178:6482-6494.
- The Pathology of Asthma, with Special Reference to Changes in the Bronchial Mucosa - Dunnill MS. J Clin Pathol. 1960 Jan;13:27- 33.
For Medical Professionals
Patient Referrals
Following a patient evaluation at the Asthma Center, our team provides a timely, specialized report that includes our evaluation, test results and a proposed plan of care. Our specialists may assume care for patients or provide a treatment plan to you and the patient to carry out proposed recommendations.
Our secure online service, Dr.Connect, provides referring physicians access to patient’s treatment progress with streamlined communication from Cleveland Clinic physicians to your office, allowing continued participation in the ongoing care of patients. With the best possible treatment plans and coordinated care, our team approach benefits both the patient and the referring physician.
To refer a patient, call the Asthma Center at 216.444.0582 or the Bronchial Thermoplasty Referral Line at 216.445.6266.
- Learn more about physician referrals to the Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute
Education
Allergy and Clinical Immunology Fellowships
Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute offers two fellowships in allergy/immunology each year. Fellows will gain experience working in a multi-specialty group practice setting, with a busy outpatient allergy/immunology practice and have the opportunity to do elective rotations in asthma, dermatology, otolaryngology, pulmonary and critical care, radiology, rheumatology, infectious diseases, and more.
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowships
Our pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowships provide board-certified general internists with the tools necessary to care for patients, who have complicated lung diseases and critical illnesses. During the three-year training period, which includes an 18-month core program and 18-month subspecialty track, fellows are exposed to a wide variety of medical problems in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.
CMEs
The Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute offers continuing medical education courses through the Center for Continuing Education. Current CME offerings include:
References
Disease Management Project
Cleveland Clinic publishes an online medical reference, the Disease Management Project, which provides nationally-established treatment guidelines for the most common diseases and conditions
