Media Availability: New Results Show That Some Severe
Emphysema Patients Continue to Benefit from Surgery
The latest results from the landmark National Emphysema Treatment
Trial (NETT) confirm and extend earlier findings that selected patients
with advanced emphysema predominately in the upper area of the lung
may benefit from surgery and the benefits are still apparent with
two more years of follow-up. The newly published findings from the
largest study of bilateral lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS)
to treat severe emphysema also confirm that patients with upper-lobe
emphysema and poor exercise capacity before surgery are more likely
to have improved survival compared to similar patients treated with
medical therapy without surgery. Surgery might also provide some
symptom relief in patients with emphysema in the upper lung area
but who had good exercise capacity prior to surgery; however, survival
rates did not improve in this group.
NETT researchers describe the effects of LVRS after following 1218
patients for an average of 4.3 years, two years longer than the
primary results reported in 2003. The earlier findings led to Medicare
coverage of LVRS for patients meeting criteria based on the study
results. NETT began in 1996 as a cooperative effort between the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National
Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services. Both are agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
"Long-Term Follow-Up of Patients Receiving Lung-Volume-Reduction
Surgery Versus Medical Therapy for Severe Emphysema"
is published in the August issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Gail Weinmann, M.D., director of the NHLBI Airway Biology and Disease
Program, is available to comment on the study's findings.
To schedule interviews, contact the NHLBI Communications Office
at 301-496-4236.
Resources
Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
(http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Copd/Copd_WhatIs.html)
News
release, May, 20, 2003: Landmark Cooperative Federal Study Defines
The Role Of Lung Surgery In The Treatment Of Severe Emphysema
(http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/new/press/03-05-20.htm)
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the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.
For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov
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