The Pediatric Pulmonary Unit of the Sheba Medical Center provides a comprehensive range of diagnostic techniques and treatment for patients of all ages from infancy to adulthood.  We provide our pulmonary services both to the community (on an outpatient basis) and to hospitalized patients.  Our services include:

• Pulmonary function laboratory, specialized in Lung Function Tests including pre-school children (3-6 years old)
• Pediatric Flexible Fiber-Optic Bronchoscopy Services
• Consultations to the Pediatric Emergency Room, Pediatric Wards, Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Rehabilitation and to the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department
• Pre-natal consultation regarding Congenital Lung Lesions - High Risk Pregnancies
• Lung diseases including Asthma, Broncho-Pulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), Gastro-Esophageal Reflux (GERD), Upper Airway Obstruction (congenital and acquired), Familial Dysautonomia (Riley-Day Syndrome) and others
• Children with Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE): diagnosis, family education, home monitors, and long-term follow-up
• Sleep laboratory services for children with sleep disturbances due to airway diseases
• Allergic evaluation and consultation

The staff of the Pediatric Pulmonary Unit includes specialist physicians and nurses, a social worker, a dietitian, physiotherapists and psychologists.

The National Cystic Fibrosis Center of Israel is housed in the Pediatric Pulmonary Unit. Our center is the largest Cystic Fibrosis center in Israel.  One hundred and fifty-five patients, ranging from infants to seniors, including 7 transplanted patients.  Cystic Fibrosis can be found in all ethnic groups, including Jews, Arabs, Bedouins, and Druze. The services provided by Pediatric Pulmonary Unit to Cystic Fibrosis patients includes diagnostic sweat tests, genetic evaluations and counseling. The Sheba Medical Center provides all essential resources, including specialized Microbiology, Virology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Surgery and Intensive Care, and Radiological Diagnostic Imaging.
 
The Pediatric Pulmonary Unit is always striving to better serve our patients and expand our knowledge and services.  Our special fields of interest and development include:

• Expanding the services of the Pulmonary Laboratory for preschool children, ages 2 to 6 years old
• Designing "Asthma Education Program for Patients and Families"
• Sport programs for chronically ill lung patients, as a part of our rehabilitation program
• Pulmonary rehabilitation assessment for pediatric patients in rehabilitation programs.

Unit at a Glance
Number of Outpatients per Year - 2000
Director - Prof. Yakov J. Yahav Prof. Yakov J. Yahav, completed his pre-medical studies at the Fribourg University in Switzerland, and graduated from the Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine in 1972.  From 1979 to 1981 he completed a Research Fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonology at the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto Canada. Since 1986 he has been the Director of the Pediatric Pulmonary Unit and the Israel National CF Center at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center. Since 2001, he has been Associate Professor in Pediatrics at Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine. He is active in clinical research in the fields of Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis, Medical Therapy, Lung Transplantation and pregnancy; Asthma, and Preschool Lung Function tests.
Address - The Edmond & Lily Safra Children's Hospital
E-mail - Yakov.Yahav@sheba.health.gov.il
Tel - 972-3-530-2884