New valve replacement surgeries for lungs

New valve replacement surgeries for lungs DUBAI: Two patients, who suffered from progressive lung disease or severe emphysema and respiratory failure, were healed through valve replacement surgeries, a first-of-its-kind in the region, at the pulmonary unit of Dubai’s Rashid Hospital. The procedure, known as “endo-bronchial valve placement via bronchoscopy,” was performed on the two patients, aged 65 and 70 years, who suffered from lung hyperinflation, chronic emphysema, shortness of breath and respiratory failure due to smoking. Each procedure took about 45 minutes and was performed under local anaesthesia. The valves were successfully placed within the inflated lung by an endoscope and the patients were discharged within a day, said Dr Bassam Mahboub, consultant and head of Pulmonary Medicine Unit in Rashid Hospital. The therapeutic interventions were very successful and the patients left hospital the next day, he added. “Both the patients were smokers and their overall health and quality of life deteriorated to the level where medication alone would not suffice. They urgently needed medical intervention,” Dr Mahboub pointed out. He warned that smokers are at risk of chronic lung diseases ten times more than non-smokers. “The air sacs of smokers become inflated as a result of continuous smoking over the years. This results in difficulty in inhaling the air and weakening of the air walls, due to accumulation of chemicals and tobacco tar.” “Previously, surgery has been the treatment for emphysema, but with a success rate of only 50 per cent along with high possibilities of serious complications, whereas this new surgical procedure has resulted in a success rate of 95 per cent along with the possibility of discharging the patient within 24-48 hours of surgery,” he noted. Rashid Hospital is considered to be the first healthcare institution to implement and adopt this technology in the Middle East region, Asia and Africa. “This type of procedure is performed mainly in Germany and the United States. Introducing it in the UAE, the authorities are now looking at the possibility of applying this technique to all age groups; however, it mainly benefits elderly smokers who suffer from severe deterioration of the lungs,” Dr Mahboub concluded. see this new surgery for emphysema suffers