Team Members

Left to right: Danny Hsia MD (Pulmonology), Jessica Ashford SLP (Speech Pathology), Steve Gorsek SLP (Speech Pathology), Kandice Bowman, NP (No longer with OHSU), Yasemen Eroglu MD (Gastroenterology), Derek Lam MD, MPH (Otolaryngology)

The OHSU Doernbecher Aerodigestive Clinic provides multidisciplinary care and treatment for children and adolescents who have medically complex aerodigestive disorders such as dysphagia, aspiration, chronic cough and airway obstruction.

The clinic is led jointly by two pediatric fellowship-trained specialists, Derek Lam, M.D., M.P.H.(otolaryngology), and Danny Hsia,M.D. (pulmonology).

Our Approach

 The clinic brings together experts from related specialties throughout Doernbecher, including speech and language pathology, otolaryngology, pulmonology, gastroenterology and pediatric surgery. Together they function as an integrated team to provide streamlined care, coordinating outpatient visits and related diagnostic testing. Evaluations and recommendations are directly communicated between providers on the day of clinic, thus facilitating an efficient and unified plan and allowing for timely and straightforward communication with patients, families and primary care providers.

Indications for referral

 Consider referral for children and adolescents with any of the following concerns:

• Any type of airway or swallowing disorder which results in frequent hospitalizations or emergency room visits
• Chronic aspiration or chronic cough
• Recurrent pneumonia
• Complex airway abnormalities, either congenital or acquired
• Tracheostomy or ventilator dependence

Diagnostics

For patients who need further diagnostic evaluation, many additional tests or procedures can be coordinated with the initial clinic visit. Because our team collaborates so closely, we are able to quickly and conveniently meet the patient's unique health needs — often within a single visit. Additional outpatient testing that is coordinated with the clinic visit whenever possible includes:

• Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES)
• Modified barium swallow study (MBSS)
• Pulmonary function testing
• Cystic fibrosis sweat chloride testing
• Polysomnography (overnight sleep studies)
• Impedance and pH probe testing

For patients who require endoscopic evaluations in the operating room, joint procedures are coordinated between pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology and otolaryngology and performed under the same general anesthetic in order to minimize the need for multiple procedures

Our Research

The clinic produces cutting-edge clinical outcomes research to further improve the care of these complicated patients.

Ongoing studies include: 

• Outcomes of laryngeal cleft repair for dysphagia
• Development of a new assay for chronic aspiration
• Quality of life outcomes both at baseline and post-treatment
• Comparison of medical vs. surgical interventions
• Prevalence and severity of sleep apnea in this medically complex population

How to Make an Appointment

Please contact our office regarding scheduling appointments. Prior to scheduling an appointment, our providers often need to review chart notes related to the reason you want to be seen in order to coordinate any additional tests they may need in order to make the most of your visit.  In some cases, we will require a referral from your primary care physician.  We would be happy to discuss this with you to ensure we have all we need to expedite the scheduling process.  Please contact us by phone or email to begin the process. 

Phone: OHSU Doernbecher Aerodigestive Clinic  503-494-5350
Email: enthns@ohsu.edu

Our providers see patients in the Physician's Pavilion and Doernbecher Children's Hospital in the main OHSU campus.