CHENNAI: Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) was successfully completed on a 66-year-old woman patient with severe asthma at Apollo Hospitals. BT is a complete solution to severe persistent, drug-resistant asthma patients in India that prevents the recurrence of asthma. The patient was suffering with persistent, drug-resistant asthma that not only restricted her breathing but her daily life for over 40 years. Dr R. Narasimhan, consultant pulmonologist, and Dr Anand Murugesan, anesthetist, performed Bronchial Thermoplasty, which is the first non-drug procedure for asthma.
With increasing air pollution in the city, the highest amounts of tiny suspended particles penetrate deep into the airways and lungs causing asthma, bronchitis, heart disease, stroke and a clutch of other diseases. Similarly, the patient with recurrent asthma attacks also had wheezing, breathlessness and chest tig-htness after which Bronchial Thermoplasty was performed on her. Bronchial Thermoplasty is an advanced medical procedure that effectively “heats” the inside of the bronchial tubes to widen the airways provided much needed relief to her.
This process decreases constriction in the patient's airways and enables easier breathing, reducing the frequency and severity of asthma attacks for patients with severe, persistent, drug-resistant asthma. Explaining the procedure Dr R. Narasimhan, said, “The procedure involved the insertion of a small tube into the patient's airway through which therapeutic radio frequency energy was passed to heat smooth muscles that narrowed the airway. Any patient, who suffers from severe, drug-resistant asthma, can be recommended for the procedure. Bronchial Thermoplasty Therapy holds great promise to help as a good solution for patients suffering with asthma.”
