Late Breaking Abstract - Bronchial Rheoplasty For Treatment of Chronic Bronchitis: 6 Month Results from a Prospective Multi-Center Study

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic bronchitis (CB) is characterized by a productive cough due to excessive mucus production in the airways, resulting in quality of life impairment and increased exacerbation risk. Bronchial Rheoplasty (BR) is a procedure in which an endobronchial catheter applies non-thermal pulsed electric fields to the airways. Preclinical studies demonstrated epithelial ablation followed by rapid regeneration of normalized epithelium. The present study evaluated the feasibility, safety and efficacy of BR in CB patients. Methods: Prospective, multi-center study enrolling 32 patients who underwent BR under general anesthesia. Right-sided airways were treated first; the left side was treated one month later. Follow-up through 6 months included assessment of adverse events and changes in symptoms and quality of life (QOL) using the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and COPD Assessment Test (CAT). Results: Bronchial rheoplasty was successfully performed in all 32 patients (62.5% male, mean age 67, post-BD FEV1 64.1±20.8%, SGRQ 59.4±15.0). Respiratory serious adverse events through 6-months included COPD exacerbation (4 patients), mucosal sail (1 patient), pleural effusion (1 patient), and unrelated lung cancer (1 patient). Mean changes from baseline to 6 months in SGRQ and CAT scores were -14.0±3.4 points (p Conclusion: This study provides clinical evidence of the feasibility, safety and clinical performance of BR in symptomatic CB patients. The results suggest that BR may provide improvement in symptoms and QOL for this patient population.