Fibrosing Mediastinitis

Overview

Fibrosing mediastinitis can be as scary as it sounds. You can get it from another condition called histoplasmosis, where the lymph nodes in your mediastinum (the area between your lungs housing your heart, trachea, esophagus and large blood vessels) become enlarged. And infection or inflammation set in — all because you inhaled a particular fungus that’s common in specific areas of the United States, like Ohio, Missouri and the Mississippi Valley region.

With fibrosing mediastinitis, your body has a very strong immune reaction to fight off the infection. The extensive scar tissue that develops because of this reaction can block your bronchial tubes or compress blood vessels that go in and out of your lungs. This can make it hard to breathe, cause pain in your lungs and even be life-threatening.

New Center offers hope

Although there is no treatment yet for this condition, Cleveland Clinic’s new team-based Fibrosing Mediastinitis Center is working hard to understand fibrosing mediastinitis better and hopefully find a treatment soon. The Center provides the newest medical therapies, endobroncial (inside your bronchial tubes) or intravascular (inside your blood vessels) procedures and the latest surgery options. The Center will also provide a platform for education and research.

Since our main campus and most of Cleveland Clinic hospitals are in a geographic ‘hot spot’ for the histoplasmosis infection, our healthcare providers are experienced with fibrosing mediastinitis and are dedicated to improving care.

Our Team

Pulmonary (IP/advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy, pulmonary hypertension)

• Francisco Almeida, MD, MS (Program Director)
• Atul Mehta, MD
• Hilary Petersen, MPAS, PA-C
• Gustavo Heresi, MD (Pulmonary Hypertension support)
• Jason Dean, CNP

Infectious diseases

• Tricia Bravo, MD
• Patricia Bartley, MD

Interventional radiology

• Ihab Haddadin, MD

Interventional cardiology

• Joanna Ghobrial, MD

Thoracic surgery

• Monisha Sudarshan, MD
• Siva Raja, MD, PhD

Appointments and Locations

Fibrosing Mediastinitis Center Contact Information

Fibrosing Mediastinitis Center
9500 Euclid Ave
Crile Building, 9th Floor, Desk A90
Cleveland, OH 44195
Phone: 216.445.2568
Fax: 216.636.5384

To schedule an appointment with a provider at the Fibrosing Mediastinitis Center, please call 216.445.2568.

For questions and instructions on on sending previous medical records and/or imaging before an appointment, please see the “Records and Images” tab.

For Medical Professionals

To refer a patient please call 216.445.2568.

FM Clinic Records and Images

Records & Images

At your appointment, your healthcare provider will review your medical records and the results of imaging tests you’ve had — like X-rays, MRIs and CT scans. This review gives your provider a better understanding of your medical history and helps you avoid unnecessary tests. Medical records should include:

• Office notes or visits with your providers (including, if available, notes from your primary care physician, pulmonologist or surgeon).
• Laboratory results of bloodwork.
• Results of other procedures, such as bronchoscopies, breathing tests, and echocardiograms. This review helps your doctor understand your medical history and helps you avoid unnecessary tests.

It’s your responsibility to have your records from your non-Cleveland Clinic provider(s) and hospital(s) sent to Cleveland Clinic. You may need to sign a release of information to have your records sent to us.

• Download the release form

If possible, we would rather you send us your medical records and imaging electronically instead of through the postal service. This process is faster, more secure and allows the provider to review your records quicker.

Please review the following information about sharing your medical information with Cleveland Clinic, and let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!

Written information

Care Everywhere

Care Everywhere is an electronic medical record platform (EPIC) that allows hospitals which use the system to share patients’ medical records. A list of participating hospitals is available on the Care Everywhere website. Please let your Cleveland Clinic provider know if we can use Care Everywhere to access your information. You may need to complete an authorization form. Ask your provider/hospital for one. If they don’t have one, please click here to access a form to give to your non-Cleveland Clinic provider/hospital.

Fax

If Care Everywhere isn’t available, please fax your information to your Cleveland Clinic provider at least one week before your appointment at 216.636.2282.

Self-Uploading

To upload records/imaging for your provider’s review yourself, please visit this website. You may be prompted to create an account.

Mail

If none of the above options are available, please send your medical records and imaging results (on a CD) to:

Fibrosing Mediastinitis Center
9500 Euclid Ave
Crile Building, 9th Floor, Desk A90
Cleveland, OH 44195

Please be sure to:

• Send all information in the same package.
• Clearly mark the package with your name and address.
• Send the package using your preferred postal carrier (make sure you sit the package first class and have a tracking number).