HAMILTON, Ontario, May 1 (UPI) -- Asthmatic patients showed significant improvement after treatment with bronchial thermoplasty, a Canadian study finds.
Gerard Cox of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health in Ontario examined the safety impact on lung function and airway responsiveness of bronchial thermoplasty on 16 asthma patients over a two-year period.
The study included six men and 10 women who had an average age of 39.
The researchers performed bronchial thermoplasty to lower the potential for muscle-related bronchoconstriction by reducing the mass of smooth muscle in their airways.
During the 30-minute procedure, doctors applied radio frequency thermal energy directly to the airway through a bronchoscope. This radio frequency energy heated the airway tissue to about 65 degrees Celsius, or 149 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature high enough to reduce airway smooth muscle mass but low enough to avoid tissue destruction and scarring.
Three separate sessions were needed to treat all accessible airways of both lungs.
"The procedure was well tolerated," said Cox. "Side effects were transient and typical of what is commonly observed after bronchoscopy."
The results appear in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
