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Dr. Michael Depietro

Pulmonary Critical Care
Hockessin, DE
37 years experience male

About

Bio

I am a Pulmonary Critical care physician with residency and fellowship training that included Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University Hospital and the NIH. I have extensive clinical practice experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine. I have been very involved in medical teaching, specifically resident, medical student and physician assistant education and supervision in multiple ICUs. In addition I have served as medical ICU director in a large tertiary care teaching hospital, and have led a large number of clinical research and performance improvement projects involving multiple aspects of pulmonary critical care. For the last 7 years I have been working in the pharmaceutical industry focused on respiratory drug & device development to improve the care of lung disease

Specialties
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.

Pulmonary Critical Care

Internal Medicine

Doctor Q&A

531 Answers
203 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Multiple tests: Imaging of the lung and in particular ct scan of the chest can often help define the kind of interstitial lung disease, in addition pulmonary functio... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Pneumonia: Pneumonia cause by the germ legionella. It is not all that different from any other pneumonia, although it can be very severe and can be associated wi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 58-year-old female asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Maybe: Viruses can be transmitted person to person, however a virus that causes pneumonia in one person may not necessarily cause pneumonia in another person... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
In some cases: ARDS is a response to a number of lung injuries in which the lung becomes inflamed and fluid accumulates within it. The most common cause related to ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 27-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Infection/antibiotic: Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs, which can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Somethings which predispose to pneumonia include impaired ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Nosocomial pneumonia: Pneumonia associated with a stay in the hospital ( hospital acquired pneumonia is also called nosocomial pneumonia. Lack of secretion clearance is one... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Liver -brain problem: Hepatic encephalopathy is a kind of delirium, or brain malfunction caused by liver disease. When the liver is not working toxins are produced or not a... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: This is the name for the pathology of a disorder called pulmonary fibrosis. This is a progressive disease, which has no cure, how fast it progresses c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Less severe: "walking pneumonia" just refers to a pneumonia in which patients have relatively milder symptoms.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: Blood pressure and cholesterol are risk factors for coronary artery disease, it is possible to have these risk factors under good control and still g... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 20-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Mucolytic, not very: Nac is also called n-acetylcysteine. It can be used to help break up thick secretions particularly in patients on mechanical ventilation or who are un... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 52-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Support: Most of the treatment is supportive, meaning supplemental oxygen if needed, or even mechanical ventilatory support if respiratory failure. It is recom... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Can be serious: I do not know what you mean by "churning" but in most cases pneumonia can be serious and is treated with antibiotics.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
No: Not typically, aspiration pneumonia is not typically painful, unless there is some complication of the pneumonia or a condition related that predispos... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Depends: This really depends on the specific problems you are experiencing, but if you discuss with a physiatrist ( a rehab specialist physician) or neurologis... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: Emphysema can occur with a normal chest xray. Mild changes may only be visible with ct scan, however the underlying physiologic abnormality with emphy... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Not different: Pneumonia is a lung infection. A lung infection confined to just the larger air tubes in the lungs would be called bronchitis, one that spreads to t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Lung infection: An infection of lung tissue air sacs ( alveoli) is a pneumonia. An infection confined to just the larger air tubes would be called bronchitis.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 37-year-old female asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Avoid trans fat: It would be hard to say which are the most healthy, but in buying most processed foods i would try to avoid those with "trans fats". That is those whi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: Also called takotsubo's cardiomyopathy, it is a kind of acute weakness of the hearth muscle in which the apex of the heart tends to "balloon" thus ma... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
From brain injury: This is a kind of noncardiac pulmonary edema. Its seen with a variety of acute brain injuries like head injury and large strokes especially hemorrhage... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 55-year-old female asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Flare up: Not clear what question is, but if a person with COPD is having these symptoms, there COPD may be worsening and there may be an acute infection. This ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Several: Patients typically complain of shortness of breath, cough, or chest heaviness. On exam patients may be breathing rapidly with an elevated heart rate, ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Depends: There are a variety of antibiotics the specifics depend on what kind of germs you are likely to be exposed to, if you have an underlying chronic condi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: Congestive heart failure is a collection of syptoms and problems resulting from impaired heart function. It can be treated, and even almost completely... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Hard to say: Recurrent pneumonia can be associated with some diseases that have a genetic component, for example cystic fibrosis, or some immune deficiencies. If t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Fluid in lungs: ARDS ( first called da nang lung as it was seen in the wounded in the vietnam war) is seen with many kinds of injuries to the lung either direct lik... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
CPAP: The treatment involves sleeping with a pressurized mask called cpap. In sleep apnea, excessive soft tissue in the throat, can relax during deep sleep... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Hard to say: The answer depends on what is causing these symptoms, but they are serious enough that someone with them should see a doctor asap. Can represent may s... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
May be symptom: The ice cubes themselves do not cause pneumonia. They can injure the teeth. The compulsive eating of ice can itself be a symptom called "pica" . It ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: Although pulmonary fibrosis can progress at variable rates it can be a fatal illness and in fact only 30% of patients are still alive 5 years from dia... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Delirium: It is not just old people, although they are at higher risk. Patients with critical illness commonly have delirium, this is a brain malfunction which... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Depends: The specifics vary based on source of sepsis and to what extent there are underlying medical problems that predisposed to sepsis. ( for example a 90 y... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Several: They may include shortness of breath, fever, chills, cough productive of foul sputum and chest pain. Not all need be present.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Sometimes: Most cases of viral pneumonia are relatively mild and resolve spontaneously. There are exceptions. Influenza pneumonia can cause a severe life threate... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Maybe: In most cases patients recover from pneumonia, but in some cases ( damaged immune system, elderly, underlying coexisting disease, like emphysema) it c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Yes: Yes there is certainly a chance for recovery. In fact most patients with sepsis recover. The real chance of recovery depends on all kinds of details,... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
One of them: It is the most common heart arrhythmia associated with cardiac arrest. It is not exact to call it the cause, since ventricular fibrillation itself has... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 31-year-old female asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Hard to say: Without more details it is impossible to say specifically what is wrong.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 49-year-old male asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Maybe resistant: In patients with pneumonia antibiotics "work" if the pneumonia is caused by a germ that can be killed by the antibiotic. If the antibiotic is not work... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Multiple causes: There are many possible causes for severe headache and neck pain. Any such new severe pain should be evaluated hy a physician.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 27-year-old male asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Reversibility: Asthma and COPD overlap however asthma shows reversible pft changes where the changes with COPD are more fixed. In addition COPD is a disease mostly o... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 35-year-old female asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Need doc to see: This may indicate a number of problems. Blood in the sputum always needs a medical evaluation. Post flu a secondary bacterial infection such as pneumo... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
2 medicines: Its a combination of a medicine called Pseudoephedrine which is a decongestant that works by shrinking the blood vessels in the nose and an expectoran... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Several: There are several and include generalized symptoms seen in any infection, including fever, chills, poor appetitie, and malaise of just feeling ill. Th... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
See dentist: See dentist for proper oral teeth cleaning and to address problems that can be causing bad breath such as a tooth abscess or peridontitis. Should also... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Either: Most patients who get septic do have an underlying disorder that weakens them and predisposes to severe infection. This does not have to be the case h... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
Enzyme from heart: Troponin is contained within heart muscle cells and in a heart attack the damaged cells 'leak" the troponin into the blood and the elevated levels can... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
No: If someone really has pneumonia they are not likely to have the energy or aerobic endurance to play and sport while ill.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Michael Depietro
Pulmonary Critical Care 37 years experience
No: Pseudomonas pneumonia is a severe potentially life threatening infection, it require antibiotics and support to care for. There is no scientific evide... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.

Testimonials
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.

4
Recommendations
1.2K
Thank you notes
HealthTap member
Mar 30, 2015
Dr. DePietro is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. DePietro is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. DePietro is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
She woke on the first day I visited and was able to be responsive by facial expressions and nodding. She is now off the ventilator. What a relief! Docs say her being non-compliant w' CPAP caused her C...Read More
HealthTap member
Thanks for your quick reply! Thank you for ur quick replay , in terms of to rehydrate intracellular and raise the BP which fluids would be good and why?
HealthTap member
wanted to know a little More about that because i just went through a septic shock and still have kidney problems scared to go back to shock

Education & Training

Medical/Graduate school

Hahnemann Medical College, PA
Graduated 1986MD

Awards

Top Doctor, Third Place, Delaware - Winter
2013
Most Influential, Second Place, Delaware - Winter
2013
Thought Leader, Third Place, Wilmington, DE - Winter
2013
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