How is Bronchial Thermoplasty different than other treatments?
Dr. Castro: The way it treats the muscle is really why it works so differently. The medications that I mentioned earlier – the bronchodilators – those medications work in your windpipe. They help relax the smooth muscle. However, they only last for about four to six hours, whereas this is a permanent treatment where we actually alter the smooth muscle; we decrease the muscle that’s surrounding the windpipe. It’s a long lasting and effective treatment for these patients. How is the Bronchial Thermoplasty delivered to the patient? Dr. Castro: The Bronchial Thermoplasty is actually delivered through an Alair® catheter, a very small skinny catheter that goes through an instrument called a bronchoscope. The bronchoscope is a flexible instrument that we use very often as lung doctors to go down into your windpipes and get access to your lungs to do various treatments. The bronchoscopy procedure itself for this treatment takes about 30 to 45 minutes to accomplish. We do the thermoplasty in a
