Respiratory Research Unit

Service

We provide routine service to the department of medicine and all other departments at Tygerberg Academic Hospital (TAH) - 1200 beds, drainage area 1.5 million population - both for patients with pulmonary/pleural diseases, as well as for patients needing admission in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Typical for the Western Cape region of South Africa the main medical problems our unit faces are: Tuberculosis, HIV, Lung cancer, Pleural problems, Asthma, COPD, Diffuse parenchymal lung disease, and Pneumonia.

We run a state-of -the-art Endoscopy Unit offering both bronchoscopic as well as thoracoscopic procedures. In bronchosciopy we offer modern diagnostic as well as therapeutic procedures and pasrcticed flexible as well as rigid bronchoscopy. The Pulmonary Function Testing Laboratory is well equipped with spirometry, plethsymography, diffusion capacity measurements, bronchial provocation testing, allergy testing. A special interest is cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET); for which we have modern equipment allowing measurement of oxygen consumption both stationary on Treadmill as well as a mobile system for 6minute-walk tests, shuttle walk test, stair climb or field tests outside the hospital.  We further run a busy Outpatient Clinic three times per week.

The Medical ICU is a 7-bed unit, basically always full with ventilated patients.