About Us
Our mission is to transmit our knowledge and expose our fellows to a variety of clinical and surgical scenarios to build experience, muscle memory and expertise into our trainees so they can tackle any problematic or complicated case. Our fellows graduate with unique skills and an understanding of airway physiology, pathology and mechanics, and are able to recognize and treat complex scenarios and find the best approach with the available tools on hand.
We specialize in minimally invasive diagnostic approaches to Lung Nodules and Cancer staging as well as minimally invasive therapeutic interventions for malignant and benign airway disease. We are part of the multidisciplinary team in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.
Our Team
We work with the support of the Thoracic Surgery and ENT surgical specialties. Our senior member is Dr. Thaddeus Barter, grandfather of Interventional Pulmonary, working primarily at the Central Arkansas VA; Dr. Nikhil Meena, our program director and active member of the AABIP, and most recent member Dr. Jose Diego Caceres.
Conditions
UAMS serves the entire state of Arkansas and is the primary referral center for lung cancer. We also rank in the top 50 hospitals in the nation in ENT care, according to U.S. News and World Report. Our referral base comes from inpatient and outpatient Pulmonary Services, Lung Cancer Institute, Thoracic Surgery Services, ENT services and outside facilities. We frequently encounter the following conditions:
- Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy
- Lung Nodules
- Tracheal and Bronchial stenosis
- Endobronchial Tumor
- Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis
- Alveolar Pleural Fistulas
- Expiratory Dynamic Airway Collapse
Procedures
We are proud of the service we provide here at UAMS and in the Interventional Pulmonary and Medical Community. Procedures and interventions offered in our institution are:
- Endobronchial Ultrasound Needle Aspiration
- Radial Endobronchial Ultrasound
- Endoscopic Ultrasound for adrenal and liver pathology
- Electromagnetic Navigational Bronchoscopy with Veran Systems
- Transthoracic Needle Aspiration
- Rigid Bronchoscopy
- Endobronchial thermal ablation with Argon Photo Coagulation
- Endobronchial thermal ablation with LASER
- Photodynamic Therapy
- Endobronchial Cryo ablation
- Balloon dilatation for both benign and malignant airway disease
- Airway stenting both with Self Expanding Metallic and Silicone Stents
- Y silicone stenting
- Percutaneous Tracheostomy
- Medical Pleuroscopies for pleural biopsy and Pleurodesis
- Whole Lung Lavage
- Endobronchial Valve Placement
- Surgical Chest Tube insertion
- Tunneled Pleural Catheter insertion
- Transtracheal oxygen placement
- Montgomery T – tube placement
- Robotic Assisted Bronchoscopy
Training
Our fellows will be dedicated to mainly performing procedure on weekdays and on rare occasions weekends if there is a need. IP fellows will have one half day a week of their own Pulmonary clinic and will rotate every other month on the Pulmonary Consults service along with an assigned Pulmonary Fellow. We expect the IP fellow to be actively involved in teaching and training other Pulmonary Fellows along their own training. Also, there will be dates assigned for the IP fellow to present Review of Topics, Journal Club or Case Reviews to discuss during Pulmonary Conferences alongside other faculties of the program.
Application
Applications are submitted at the Association of Interventional Pulmonology Program Directors website. Applicants’ selection is through National Resident Match Program. Applicants are required to be Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine trained and board eligible and will require an Arkansas Medical License. We cannot support J1 visas.
Publications
- Chatterjee K, Goyal A, Kakkera K, Meena N. Etiology of Malignant Pleural Effusion and Utilization of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures: A Nationwide Analysis. J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2017 Jan;24(1):e10-e12. PMID: 27984393
- Gaspard D, Bartter T, Boujaoude Z, Raja H, Arya R, Meena N, Abouzgheib W. Endobronchial valves for bronchopleural fistula: pitfalls and principles. Ther Adv Respir Dis. 2017 Jan;11(1):3-8. PMID: 27742781
- Meena N, Innabi A, Alzghoul B, Bartter T. A novel technique of needle setting for curvilinear endobronchial ultrasound: Improved efficiency with no cost. SAGE Open Med. 2016 Dec 2;4:2050312116682129. PMID: 27974969
- Meena N, Abouzgheib W, Patolia S, Rosenheck J, Boujaoude Z, Bartter T . EBUS-TBNA and EUS-FNA: Risk Assessment for Patients Receiving Clopidogrel.. J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2016 Oct;23(4):303-307. PMID: 27479011
- Meena N, Jeffus S, Massoll N, Siegel ER, Korourian S, Chen C, Bartter T. Rapid onsite evaluation: A comparison of cytopathologist and pulmonologist performance. Cancer Cytopathol. 2016 Apr;124(4):279-84. PMID: 26492064
- Meena NK, Jeffus SK, Lindberg MR, Bartter T. How Long Is Too Long? Trials and Tribulations of an Indolent Tumor. J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2016 Jul;23(3):242-4. PMID: 26905443
- Meena N, Hulett C, Patolia S, Bartter T. Exploration under the dome: Esophageal ultrasound with the ultrasound bronchoscope is indispensable. Endosc Ultrasound. 2016 Jul-Aug;5(4):254-7. PMID: 27503158
- Agarwal A, Klair J, Joiner A, Meena NK. Nodular trachea: tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica. BMJ Case Rep. 2015 Jun 25; 2015. PMID: 26113589
- Boujaoude Z, Bartter T, Abboud M, Pratter M, Abouzgheib W. Pleuroscopic Pleurodesis coupled with Tunneled Pleural Catheter Placement for Management of Malignant Pleural Effusion. J Bronchol Intervent Pulm 2015; 22:237-43. PMID: 26165894