Bronchial Thermoplasty

What is Bronchial Thermoplasty? 

Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) is a procedure that is being used to treat those with severe persistent asthma that are not able to control their disease with inhaled corticosteroids and long acting beta agonists. Over 24 million people suffer asthma attacks. For a small group of those Bronchial Thermoplasty offers them a way to control their disease. People with chronic asthma often develop a thickening of the smooth muscle lining the airways. Not only do they have too much muscle, it is too “twitchy”. If there are irritants in the airways, they can close down to the size of a pinhole. Most asthma medications work by reducing that “twitchiness”.

Bronchial Thermoplasty works by permanently opening constricted airways by reducing the smooth muscle lining and can provide relief for chronic, acute asthmatics. BT is done as an outpatient procedure by a pulmonologist and is a minimally invasive procedure. A thermoplasty device is used through a bronchoscope to deliver heat energy to the airway of the lungs. This reduces excessive muscle and decreases the the airways ability to narrow. Each activation of the device treats less than an inch of airway. The pulmonologist moves the device and activates it again and again along the dozens of bronchial branches. This is the first non-drug treatment for asthma, and it’s a very promising technology for patients who have been taking all the medications and whose symptoms are still not completely controlled. 

Asthma patients may breathe easier because of new procedure.