Specialized medical services

In the Department of Clinical Immunology, we treat diseases caused by the dysregulation of the immune system, which protects our body from pathogens. Such diseases include autoimmune diseases involving immune attacks on healthy organs; chronic inflammatory diseases, in which inflammation persists by the continuous activation of the immune system; allergic diseases, which are based on immune reactions; and immunodeficiencies, in which the immune function is insufficient. Although autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, and allergies are treated in the Department of Rheumatology, Collagen Diseases, or Allergy at city hospital, we treat such diseases in the Department of Clinical Immunology, because such diseases often result from the dysregulation of the immune system.

We treat diseases characterized by polyarthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, and spondyloarthritis; the so-called collagen diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, polymyositis/dermatomyositis, systemic scleroderma, mixed connective tissue diseases, and Sjogren's syndrome; various vasculitis syndromes that include the inflammation of large-to-small blood vessels; chronic inflammatory diseases such as Behcet's disease and adult-onset Still's disease; allergic diseases such as bronchial asthma, eosinophilia, and IgG4-related diseases; and various types of immunodeficiencies. Currently, our department has approximately 2,100 outpatients.

Features

The latest evidence-based medical care services are provided after receiving informed consent from the patient. Moreover, medical care services that are most appropriate for individual patients are provided. Symptoms and organ-damages in patients with the dysregulation of the immune system are likely to extend to the whole body, and they are treated in close cooperation with Internal Medicine as well as the Surgery, Sensory Organ/Dermatology/Motor System, Neuropsychiatry, Obstetrics, and Gynecology Departments.

Considerations in referring your patients to Department of Clinical Immunology

We treat patients from not only the Osaka area but also the Kinki district. We are particularly committed to treating patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who require biologics and patients with various collagen diseases who are in the active stage. We would appreciate it if you refer patients before organ damage progresses. When referring patients to our department, please attach clinical information and make a reservation through our Department of Health Care and Welfare Network. There is a limit to the number of patients we treat per day who are visiting us for the first time. If a patient's symptom is severe or organ damage progresses rapidly, we will treat patients as early as possible. The disease condition often becomes stable for a long time after appropriate treatment, in such case we may refer patients to a nearby hospital.