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department of Medicine

Section of pulmonary and critical care medicine

Research - Biologic Lung Volume Reduction (BLVR) Trial

 

About the first Biologic Lung Volume Reduction (BLVR) procedure in the region:

  • Temple Lung Center pulmonologists performed the region's first BLVR procedure in September 2006.
  • Temple’s first patient returned home two days after the procedure. Since that date, additional patients have undergone the procedure.
  • Three hospitals in the nation performed the Phase 1 trial. Temple University Hospital is the only hospital in the Mid-Atlantic performing this procedure.


About BLVR:

  • BLVR is a potential new treatment for advanced emphysema that uses a biodegradable gel—not surgery—to improve patients' breathing.
  • In BLVR, physicians target diseased portions of the lung with ONLY a bronchoscope.
  • Using the scope, doctors apply a gel directly to small airways feeding the most diseased areas of the lung.
  • The gel effectively collapses the diseased tissue and seals it off from the rest of the lung, causing the diseased regions to scar and shrink.
  • BLVR, like the more invasive lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) and endobronchial valve placement (EBV), effectively "chokes off" the diseased lung tissue, allowing healthy tissue to perform better.
  • The procedure reduces lung volume over a period of weeks, as diseased lung tissue collapses. The reduction in lung-volume restores a more normal physiological relationship between the lung and chest wall, thereby improving breathing.
  • The BLVR procedure takes approximately 20-30 minutes and patients experience only mild discomfort.

About Emphysema:

  • Emphysema patients lose elasticity in their lungs, preventing the healthy exchange of oxygen.
  • Emphysema is a progressive, degenerative disease of the lung that affects more than 3 million Americans and an estimated 8 million people worldwide.
  • Other treatments for advanced emphysema include oxygen therapy, medication, transplant or lung volume reduction surgery—all of which present quality of life questions and risks for the patient.

Detailed explanation of BLVR:

  1. BLVR involves administration of biologic materials into selected lung sub-segments in order to initiate a remodeling process that collapses damaged lung tissue and shrinks it through scarring over a period of weeks.
  2. BLVR is the purposeful creation of a scar in the lung instead of surgical removal of heavily diseased lung tissue as in LVRS.
  3. The resulting reduction in lung volume enhances recoil and allows the lung and respiratory muscles to function better.
  4. The procedure is performed under conscious sedation in the bronchoscopy suite and takes about 30 minutes (depending upon the number of lung sub-segments treated).
  5. It can become a routine procedure in the hands of a qualified bronchoscopist after a short training period.


The highlights of the BLVR procedure are as follows:

  1. The patient is sedated, intubated, and stabilized;
  2. The lung is oxygenated;
  3. The bronchoscope is inserted into the sub-segmental bronchus selected for treatment;
  4. A catheter is inserted 3-4 cm beyond the tip of the scope, and the stylette is withdrawn;
  5. Hydrogel components are injected through the dual lumen catheter;
  6. Polymerization of the components occurs in situ, is confirmed visually (< 30 seconds), and the scope is moved to the next treatment site.

Patient information:

To qualify for BLVR, the patient must be a non-smoker and remain a non-smoker for the duration of the study.  To be considered for this treatment, please contact:

 

Temple Lung Center

Zone C, Room 715

3401 North Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA

Telephone:  215-707-5700


About the manufacturer:


The BLVR trial is being developed by Aeris Therapeutics, Inc., of Woburn, MA, which manufacturers the gel. For more information on Aeris Therpauetics, Inc., visit their website at www.aerist.com or call 781-937-0110.