title: State of the art: interventional pulmonology.
abstract: Interventional pulmonology (IP) provides comprehensive care to patients with structural airway disorders and pleural diseases. A growing armamentarium of diagnostic and therapeutic tools has expanded the interventional pulmonologist's ability to care for pulmonary patients with complex abnormalities, often in concert and close collaboration with physicians in other specialties, such as thoracic surgery. Innovative technologies promise to have an impact on diseases and clinical entities not traditionally treated by invasive pulmonary interventions, such as asthma, COPD, and the solitary pulmonary nodule. Training, credentialing, reimbursement, and scientific validation remain key necessities for the continued growth of IP, and require a concerted effort by chest physicians and their professional organizations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Pulmonology, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Momen M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wahidi
authors.forename: Felix J F
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Herth
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ernst
mesh_terms: D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000592:standards; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003406:Credentialing; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D012017:Referral and Consultation