Airway Bypass Stents for Emphysema, Algorithm to Exclude Precapillary Pulmonary Hypertension, and Sildenafil for Pulmonary Hypertension in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

摘要

In selected patients with emphysema, lung volume reduction surgery has been shown to improve exercise capacity, quality of life, and survival (2). Because of restrictive inclusion criteria and risk of surgery, there has been interest in bronchoscopic lung volume reduction as an alternative to lung volume reduction surgery. Creating airway bypass tracts (ABTs) attempts to bypass collapsed small airways, allowing air to escape on expiration. The Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema (EASE) trial was the first randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study of ABTs (1).