Recently a team of researchers published the results of a five year study on the efficacy of bronchial thermoplasty. The research team from National Jewish Health and several other institutions, published a sort of report card for bronchial thermoplasty in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The Florida Lung Doctors are happy to report straight “A’s” for this cutting edge medical procedure.
A Bit of Background
As we have written in a previous blog, bronchial thermoplasty is a treatment in which the surgeon “applies heat within the lungs.” This is done during a bronchoscopy exam, when heat is applied to the patient’s airway through a catheter and a device by the brand name, Allair.
In bronchial thermoplasty, the application of radio frequency heat to the airway wall reduces the amount of excessive airway smooth muscle present in the airways. This is an important point because the procedure is designed to limit the body’s ability to contract and narrow the airway. The limiting effect relieves or lessens an asthma attack.
Here is the explanation of the technique in more medical terms:
“An acute asthma attack is characterized by contraction of muscle tissue in the airway walls in response to irritation, infection or inflammation. Although drugs can lessen the constriction of the breathing passages in many patients, some patients can’t control their asthma symptoms even with high doses of medications. The new treatment uses a device to heat the walls of the lung’s air passages to reduce the amount of muscle tissue and potentially inhibit narrowing of the airways.”
Criteria Used To Critique Bronchial Thermoplasty Over A Five Year Period
The scientists from National Jewish Health utilized many criteria to measure the performance of the procedure. Some of their decisive fact
ors in testing the long term effectiveness of BT included:
1. After the BT, patients had fewer asthma exacerbations.
2. After the BT, fewer emergency department visits were recorded.
3. The patients’ records reflected that they used less medication, after their bronchial thermoplasty.
4. The patients’ employment records demonstrated fewer missed workdays.
All four of these factors continued to enrich the lives of patients for the duration of the five year study, and beyond.
Michael Wechsler, MD, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at National Jewish Health, announced, “These data add to the growing body of evidence that bronchial thermoplasty has a long-term benefit and is an important option for patients whose moderate to severe asthma is not controlled by medications.”
The Proof Is In The Percentages
As always, the Florida Lung Doctors like to take a look at the numbers. They are indeed, impressive.
1. Percentage of severe exacerbations before BP = 52%…
Percentage of severe exacerbations following bronchial thermoplasty = 31%…
Average reduction of severe exacerbations after BP = 29%…
2. Percentage of fewer patients who went to the emergency room with respiratory difficulty = 78% -After bronchial thermoplasty…
3. Average days missed at work = dropped 66 percent!
4. Average use of corticosteroid medications also dropped 17 percent!
Another exciting proof that BT is an invaluable treatment for asthma is that repeat CT scans in the five years of the study did not degenerate. The scan results stayed the same as they had been at the time of the bronchial thermoplasty. It was as if the bronchial thermoplasty treatment had frozen the effects of asthma in time, or at least slowed the effects down substantially.
The Florida Lung, Asthma & Sleep Center Specialists thank you for visiting our blog, and we personally invite you to visit our Facts Page on Bronchial Thermoplasty. If you or someone you know is suffering from mild to moderate asthma attacks, this page could change his or her life!