What is Bronchial thermoplasty?
Bronchial thermoplasty is used to reverse the airway remodeling seen in asthma. Bronchial thermoplasty can directly target the muscle component of the bronchial airway. The technique involves the use of the Alair(R) system, under development as Asthmatx, to deliver energy through a catheter which has an expandable basket of 4 electrodes at the distal end. During bronchoscopy, the electrodes are expanded to contract the airway wall and a controlled bolus of energy is supplied over 10 seconds. In the randomized Asthma Intervention Research trial in patients with poor asthma control, mild exacerbations were reduced for 4 months. Adverse events were increased early after treatment but did not differ compared to controls between 6 weeks and 12 months. In the Research in Severe Asthma trial, an early increase in moderate-to-severe adverse events was also seen with the technique, but again the rates of these events were equal at later time points. Bronchial thermoplasty was associated with im
