Emphysema sufferers can now undergo a ground-breaking non-invasive procedure, known as Lung Volume Reduction Coil a procedure recently performed for the first time in Africa. Dr Johan Theron, a pulmonologist at Mediclinic Panorama in Cape Town, said in a report in The Times: "It is a non-invasive procedure which sees 10 small coils inserted into the lung through a throat tube to bring back (the lungs') elasticity."
He has performed the procedure three times with Professor Coenie Koegelenberg of the University of Stellenbosch, the first doctors to do so in Africa. Said Koegelenberg: "The coils come in three different sizes. It is during the actual procedure that we see which size should go where in the lung. It is takes up to 60 minutes in theatre, and patients can go home the next day."
Lung reduction surgery entails hospitalisation between five and 10 days, and is invasive surgery, whereby wedges of damaged lung tissue are removed to allow the remaining tissue to function better. Koegelenberg said: "While you are under general anaesthetic, you have a tube in your lung anyway to breathe, so now we put the camera in that tube too and we can see where we are." The coils are sent through a tube in a straightened form but spring into the desired shape when they are released.
Theron cautioned, however: "Not all emphysema sufferers qualify for this procedure." He added that the procedure was not a first resort, and was only implemented in cases of advanced emphysema.
[link url="http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/03/11/breath-of-life-for-sick-lungs"]Full report in The Times[/link]