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Vapor ablation for emphysema patients improves function

Patients who received vapor ablation to treat severe upper-lobe predominant emphysema showed improved forced expiratory volume in 1 second and respiratory questionnaire scores, according to recent research.

“Compared with standard medical management, targeted thermal vapour ablation of more diseased segments and preservation of less diseased segments resulted in clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in lung function and quality of life at 6 months, with an acceptable safety profile,” Felix J. F. Herth, MD, of the department of pneumology and critical care medicine at Thoraxklinik, University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany, and colleagues.

As part of the STEP-UP trial, Herth and colleagues enrolled 70 patients from 10 European and 3 Australian hospitals between June 2013 and October 2014, according to the abstract. Patients were aged between 40 years and 75 years with severe emphysema predominant in the upper lobe, substantial hyperinflation, a post-rehabilitation 6-minute walk test greater than 140 m and a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) between 20% and 45%. The researchers stratified patients into one of two groups that received either vapor ablation (n = 46) or conventional treatment (n= 24).

They found patients in the vapor ablation group showed a relative improvement in FEV₁ of 14.7% compared with the conventional treatment group (95% CI, 7.8-21.5), according to the abstract. The St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire scores in the vapor ablation group also improved by a mean –9.7 points (95% CI, –15.7 to –3.7) over the conventional treatment group.

Herth and colleagues reported chronic obstructive pulmonary disease occurred in 11 of 45 patients (24%) in the vapor ablation group and in 1 of 24 patients in the conventional treatment group. There were no reports of pneumothorax in either group, according to the abstract. – by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.