Respiratory health is deteriorating day by day globally due to an increased exposure to certain risk factors such as pollution, smoking and passive lifestyle. Although in general the respiratory diseases can be kept under control, there is still a need for better phenotyping and management of lung diseases such as COPD and Asthma. The conventional Lung Function Tests like spirometry don’t provide any regional information and have limited sensitivity to detect changes in pulmonary function in an early stage because the healthy areas in the lung compensate for a progressive disease making it undetectable. There is a need to shift to a better technology which can look at the overall lung health.
Bronchial thermoplasty is a non-drug procedure for severe persistent asthma in patients 18 years and older whose asthma is not well controlled with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists.
BT was described as “the first nondrug asthma treatment,” a statement that overlooks important measures such as avoidance and education. Nevertheless, it is very helpful that a new invasive procedure has been subjected to a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled study, permitting healthcare practitioners to be relatively confident that the benefits are real.
