Pulmonary Function Lab

When a child has a heart or lung disorder, it's often necessary to do breathing or exercise testing to determine how well the heart and lungs are working. UCSF's Pediatric Pulmonary Lab provides the full gamut of these tests in a kid-friendly setting.

The lab has state-of-the-art equipment to measure various aspects of pulmonary function, such as lung volume, in children of any age, even small infants. These tests can be crucial for making medical decisions such as whether to proceed with a treatment or change a medication. They're also important for managing chronic lung disorders like asthma or cystic fibrosis and to diagnose lung abnormalities. We use minimally invasive procedures so the tests will be less scary. In select cases, we can provide sedation administered under the care of our board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists.

We are also equipped to provide a comprehensive assessment of how well a child's heart and lungs responds to exercise. That can help us detect or diagnose what might be causing symptoms like chest pain or breathlessness.

While having good equipment is important, having skilled, experienced laboratory technicians who know how to coach a child through a test is essential. Our technicians do an expert job with even the very young.

Why choose us:

A full range of pulmonary tests for children

• The comprehensive Pulmonary Function Laboratory at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals provides the full range of services, from a hypoxic challenge and altitude simulation studies to testing of pulmonary function in infants and children, exercise stress, and bronchoprovocation.
• The information gathered from these tests helps our certified pediatric pulmonologists understand lung diseases, lung growth, and recovery after illnesses.

Pediatric cardiopulmonary exercise testing

A comprehensive assessment of how a child's heart and lungs respond to the stress of exercise.

• Exercise electrocardiography
• Exercise echocardiography
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing with expiratory gas analysis
• Exercise testing with central hemodynamic monitoring
• Exercise and pharmacologic perfusion imaging

Follow-up and pulmonary medication therapies

• Not all services offered in the Pulmonary Function Lab are for diagnosis, and we're considered a top Bay Area provider of medicated aerosol therapies.
• Much of our lab equipment helps us follow patient responses to medication so that we can provide follow-up care and alter treatments to meet your child's progress.

Comfort and expert care for your child

• Breathing tests are some of the scariest for a child to undergo, which is why we provide advanced pulmonary function testing that uses minimally invasive procedures designed to ease your child's fears and discomforts.
• Sedation may also be available in select cases and is always provided under the care of our board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists.

Pulmonary testing for young children and infants

• Some infants are born with chest deformities and defects that alter lung volumes. A special technique to "hug" the infant chest during testing allows for better evaluation of airflow rates before and after bronchodilators.
• The Sensormedics and Jaeger equipment in our facilities means that we're able to test the lung function of small infants and toddlers to help diagnose abnormalities in lung function at a very early age.