If you have emphysema and find it difficult to breathe, you may be interested in a promising new treatment involving special spring-like coils placed in patients’ lungs.
A new study found this lung coil procedure significantly improved quality of life for people with emphysema — improving exercise capacity (versus patients who did not receive the therapy).
While the treatment is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration, doctors hope that it will be approved to treat emphysema by next year.
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Study details
French researchers assigned one-hundred patients with severe emphysema to a standard treatment of rehabilitation, medication and oxygen, or the lung coil procedure — where metal coils are placed into the lungs using a minimally invasive scope.
The coils are believed to bring elasticity back to the lungs and may help tether airways open to provide better airflow.
The results showed that coil treatment was associated with improved quality of life. Patients who received coils also showed greater improvement in a walking test when
compared to the group that didn’t get coils.
Watch this video to learn more from Joseph Cicenia, MD, who treats patients with emphysema at Cleveland Clinic.
The post Study Finds Promising New Treatment for Your Emphysema (Video) appeared first on Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic.