FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 1998
Contact: Joseph J. DiBartolomeo, Ph.D. (Temple University Health System)
Phone: 215-707-4598
FIRST PATIENT BEGINS NATIONAL EMPHYSEMA TREATMENT TRIAL
The first patient in the U.S. was randomly assigned to clinical therapy just recently as part of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) at Temple University Hospital. According to Dr. Gerard Criner, who is principal investigator for NETT and Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Temple University Hospital, "our patient was the first selected to begin treatment as part of this national trial". The multi-year NETT Study will examine the role of lung volume reduction surgery vs. aggressive medical therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation in the treatment of end-stage emphysema.
In addition the first patient to enter the surgical portion of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial received an experimental surgical procedure this week to improve lung function. Dr. Satoshi Furukawa, Surgical Director of the Lung Transplantation Program at Temple University Hospital, performed the procedure. According to Dr. Gerard Criner "lung volume reduction surgery is currently under investigation as an alternative treatment for end-stage emphysema". This Study will also evaluate the long-term effects of lung volume reduction surgery on lung function.
Facts: NATIONAL EMPHYSEMA TREATMENT TRIAL
-- The National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) is a research study conducted by the National Institutes of Health...National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Health Care Finance Administration.
-- NETT will compare lung volume reduction surgery to other treatments for emphysema. All patients in the NETT study will receive the best known medical treatments, which include medicine, oxygen supplementation and pulmonary rehabilitation.
-- A total of 18 clinical sites around the United States have been designated to participate in the assessment of lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema as part of the NETT.
-- NETT is the first multi-center, randomized clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of standard medical treatment alone and in combination with lung volume reduction surgery.
-- NETT will take seven years to complete and results will not be available until released by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Facts: LUNG VOLUME REDUCTION SURGERY
-- Pioneered in the 1950's by Dr. Otto C. Brantigan at the University of Maryland, lung volume reduction surgery was largely forgotten for nearly 30 years.
-- Due to the shortage of donor organs, surgeons began to search for alternatives to lung transplants. Earlier this decade they found one in lung volume reduction surgery.
-- Advances in surgical techniques have led to improved outcomes in treating small groups of end-stage emphysema patients using lung volume reduction surgery.
-- Emphysema is a disease that enlarges air sacs in the lungs making it difficult to breathe. The leading cause of emphysema is smoking. Emphysema afflicts about two million Americans, most over the age of 50 years.
-- Surgeons using lung volume reduction surgery remove a portion of the diseased lung and reseal the remaining lung using a surgical stapling device. This procedure typically reduces the lung volume by 20% to 30%.
-- Studies on small groups of patients indicate a noticeable improvement in the following areas: less shortness of breath, improved ability to be more active including exercise and reduced need for supplemental oxygen.
-- Lung volume reduction surgery is not a cure for end-stage emphysema, and this procedure is currently under investigation through the National Emphysema Treatment Trial.
RSS