• Yulia Gendler, Emmanuelle Seguier-Lipszyc, Ari Silbermintz, Moshe Hain, Yoram Stern, Dragan Kravarusic, Keren Politi, Gabriel Amir, Jacob Katz, Yelena Zeitlin, Sylvia Grozovski, Yifat Nitzan, Yuliana Eshel, Adi Shimoni, Yifat Fischer, Dana Serfaty, Tami Shnayderman, Kian Assi, Lior Barbash, and Patrick Stafler.
• Pulmonary Institute, Schneider Children's Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel.
• Isr Med Assoc J. 2021 Sep 1; 23 (9): 569-575.

BackgroundAerodigestive clinics are run by interdisciplinary medical and surgical teams, and provide complex care coordination and combined endoscopies.ObjectivesTo describe the design and patient population of the first pediatric aerodigestive center in Israel.MethodsA retrospective single-center cohort study was conducted describing patients followed in the aerodigestive clinic of Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, a tertiary pediatric hospital, between its inception in January 2017 and June 2020.ResultsDuring the study period, 100 patients were seen at the combined respiratory and digestive (NoAM) clinic, with a total of 271 visits. Median age at first assessment was 29.5 months (range 3-216). Fifty-six patients (56%) had esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula. Thirty-nine patients had an identified genetic disorder, 28 had a primary airway abnormality, 28 were oxygen dependent, and 21 were born premature. Fifty-two patients underwent triple endoscopy, consisting of flexible bronchoscopy, rigid bronchoscopy, and gastroscopy. In 33 patients, esophageal dilatation was necessary. Six patients underwent posterior tracheopexy at a median of 6 months of age (range 5 days to 8 years) all with ensuing symptom improvement. The total mean parental satisfaction score on a Likert-type scale of 1-5 (5 = highest satisfaction) was 4.5.ConclusionsA coordinated approach is required to provide effective care to the growing population of children with aerodigestive disorders. The cross fertilization between multiple disciplines offers a unique opportunity to develop high quality and innovative care. Outcome measures must be defined to objectively measure clinical benefit.

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