Doctors certified for sleep studies

WESLACO - Dr. Adolfo Kaplan is not the kind of person who can afford to fall asleep on the job.
His work as one of four specialists at the Pulmonary & Sleep Center of the Valley directs his focus on the comfort and well-being of others.

The center is the only one in the Valley accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The accreditation signifies that the center is capable of providing diagnostic and treatment service for the full range of sleep disorders.    

"You can have a sleep laboratory but in order to be a center, you must be able to practice all aspects of sleep," Kaplan said. "We provide full-fledged pulmonary and sleep care services here and we are doing some unique things."

The practice, started by Dr. Ricardo Abreu seven years ago, has been fully accredited for the last three years.

Kaplan said that while pulmonary and sleep services can be found at other laboratories, the Weslaco center is the only one in the area that is all-inclusive. 

"We do sonograms in the office, and we have a fully functioning pulmonary laboratory where we can test anything that has to do with respiration," he said. "We have a cardiopulmonary exercise test. No one else has it in the Valley and we are fully trained to use it."

Kaplan said some local residents use the exercise test as a way of gauging physical fitness, but added that the equipment is designed to diagnose serious medical problems.

"I've spoken with some friends around here who say there are a lot of kids in school who want to know how fit they are, but we don't care too much about fitness," said Kaplan. "We care more about unfitness and the diseases that affect respiration. This equipment really allows us to diagnose those problems."

The center is well equipped to diagnose and treat diseases that some people may not even know exist, said Kaplan. 

"There are diseases that are very common that people know about like asthma and other problems with the windpipes," he said. "But we are also doing a number of other things that you will only find in one or two places in the Valley."

Aside from being able to effectively diagnose a full range of diseases and disorders, the office is also the sole center to handle respiratory issues for Veteran Affairs in the Valley.

"We are only center for Veteran Affairs in the Valley because there is no other accredited sleep center," Kaplan said. "That is a big deal actually because you have to go through a lot of quality issues. You have to have people who are trained and qualified." 

As part of its accreditation, the sleep center also acts as a training ground for students at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College's Polysomnography Technology Program.   

"They come and do clinical rotations," said Kaplan. "They study the theories back at the campus so they get to see all aspects of it. The students have to be aware of what they are looking for so it's one hundred percent hands-on."  

The Pulmonary & Sleep Center of the Valley can be reached at 956-447-5557