Emphysema is a progressive, irreversible disease of the lung that affects an estimated three million Americans. Geoffrey McLennan, PhD, pulmonary, critical care, and occupational medicine specialist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about a research trial that looks at a possible new, non-surgical treatment for severe emphysema:
How is emphysema currently treated?
Emphysema currently is mostly treated with medical management; using inhalers, oxygen, and pulmonary rehabilitation. In spite of that, the disease usually progresses and continues to cause often debilitating symptoms in these patients.
When patients develop severe emphysema, what are their treatment options?
Some of the options are:
- Surgical procedure to remove the diseased lung (lung volume reduction). It often requires a stay in an intensive care unit.
- Lung transplantation is an extreme option for which many patients are not eligible.
Tell us about the IBV® Valve Trial?
We operate through the patient's airway and insert a one-way valve through into the diseased airway to the diseased lung, and that reduces the lung volume. There's no intensive care stay, patients are often up and about that same day.
Will the placement of this umbrella-shaped valve be done surgically?
The diseased lung generally doesn't help the breathing and by removing that using these valves, lung volume generally gets better. We remove the diseased lung that doesn't do them any good and the expectation is that their breathing will be considerably better. We don't know if that's true yet—that's why we're doing the study—but that's the expectation.
Who will be qualified to participate in this study?
- People who have a severe case of the disease
- People who may be on oxygen at home
- People who have trouble walking even on flat surfaces
- People who y have emphysema in the upper parts of their lung, which is the case with most smokers
What will participants be asked to do as part of the study?
We evaluate them quite extensively—lung function, exercise tests, and a CT scan of their lung. If they qualify for the study, we do the procedure which takes about an hour. They have a general anesthetic. They go home after that, and we watch them over the next six months to see if they improve, don't improve, or what happens to them.
If someone wanted to learn more about this trial, who should they contact?
Contact Kim Springer at 319-353-8862. |
