New Technology at Franciscan St. Margaret Health Can Provide World of Relief for Asthma Sufferers

New-technology-at-Franciscan-St.-Margaret-Health-can-provide-world-of-relief-for-asthma-sufferersBronchial thermoplasty, a new procedure being offered at Franciscan St. Margaret Health-Hammond, can be a life-changer for patients who suffer from severe asthma.

“A lot of people say they have gotten their life back (following the treatment),” said Leonard Buccellato, M.D., who offers the procedure along with Bassel Ericsoussi, M.D., and Tapan Desai, M.D., all of whom are pulmonologists associated with Franciscan Medical Specialists in Munster.

The technology, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2010 and is available from the Boston Scientific company, is “a brand-new, novel treatment,” Dr. Buccellato said. Franciscan Alliance is the only hospital group in Northwest Indiana to offer it, according to Mike Pisco, a company territory manager, who said, “Between Chicago and Indianapolis, no one else has it.”

Three treatments, delivered in three-week intervals on an outpatient basis, send therapeutic radiofrequency energy to airway walls through a catheter from a bronchoscope, which is introduced through the nose or mouth, into the lungs. The catheter provides a series of 10-second, temperature-controlled energy bursts that heat the lungs to 65 degrees Celsius and destroy some of the muscle tissue that constricts during an asthma attack. In turn, the frequency and severity of exacerbations is decreased.

Boston Scientific, which calls bronchial thermoplasty the “first and only nondrug therapy for severe asthma,” said proven benefits have a five-year duration, which likely will last much longer, said that period of time essentially is how long the treatment has been available.

Clinical trials demonstrated after one year of treatment:
* A 32 percent decrease in asthma attacks.
* An 84 percent reduction in emergency room visits for patients having respiratory symptoms.
* A 66 percent decline in asthma-related days lost from work, school and other activities.
* A 73 percent drop in hospitalizations for respiratory symptoms.
* A significant improvement in quality of life for 79 percent of patients.

An extension trial of patients treated over five years yielded similar findings.

Medication still is required to treat such cases as inflammatory asthma, Dr. Ericsoussi said.

According to Boston Scientific, “With any procedure, there are risks and individual results vary. The most common adverse effect of BT is a temporary worsening of respiratory-related symptoms, which usually occurs within one day of the procedure and usually resolves within a week, with proper care. There is a small risk (3.4 percent per procedure) that symptoms may require hospitalization.”

Dr. Buccellato added, “The goal of using bronchial thermoplasty is to reduce the need for steroids, the need for hospitalization, to reduce costs and to improve quality of life.”