Indications for the use of bronchial thermoplasty in severe asthma
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Approximately 5% of the ~3 million asthmatics in South Africa have severe asthma that is associated with substantial morbidity, cost, absenteeism, preventable mortality, and the requirement for costly chronic medication that may be associated with significant adverse events. There is an unmet need for alternative safer and more effective interventions for severe asthma. A recently introduced option, bronchial thermoplasty (BT), imparts radiofrequency-generated heat energy to the airways to cause regression of airway smooth muscle. The effectiveness of this technique has been confirmed in randomised control trials and is now endorsed by several international guidelines, including the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guideline, the British Asthma Guideline, and the UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline. We recommend BT as a potential therapeutic intervention for severe uncontrolled asthma, provided that it is performed by an experienced pulmonologist at an accredited centre and done within the broader context of appropriate management of the disease by doctors experienced in treating difficult-to-control asthma.
Date Issued
2015-09-18
Date Acceptance
2015-09-18
Citation
SAMJ South African Medical Journal, 2015, 105 (10), pp.808-809
ISSN
0256-9574
Publisher
Health and Medical Publishing Group
Start Page
808
End Page
809
Journal / Book Title
SAMJ South African Medical Journal
Volume
105
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of this article, or use it for any other lawful, non-commercial purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medicine, General & Internal
General & Internal Medicine
SAFETY
AIRWAY
REDUCTION
TRIAL
Asthma
Bronchoscopy
Catheter Ablation
Humans
Patient Selection
South Africa
11 Medical And Health Sciences
Publication Status
Published