A Mansfield Woodhouse woman has become one of the first people in the country, outside a clinical trial, to benefit from a new treatment for severe emphysema.
Jill Dry had a series of self-expanding metal coils inserted into each of her lungs via a minimally-invasive procedure at King’s Mill Hospital.
The Lung Volume Reduction Coil (LVRC) System, developed by PneumRx Inc, a US company, helps to improve lung function, exercise capacity and quality of life by implanting nitinol coils into each lung via a tube fed through the mouth.
The coils compress diseased tissue, creating more room for healthy tissue to expand and function more effectively. They also help restore the lungs’ natural elasticity, and hold the airways open during exhalation.
Jill, a smoker since the age of 16, said: “Within a few days of leaving hospital, I found that I could breathe more easily, had more energy and was hardly coughing at all. It also had a very positive effect on my self-confidence.
“In recent years I’d become introverted and antisocial; I didn’t go out much as I hated people looking me every time I had a coughing fit. Now I’m getting back to my old self again – I’ve even remembered how to laugh.”
Dr Samuel Kemp, consultant in respiratory medicine at King’s Mill Hospital, who performed the procedure, said: “The system appears to offer real benefits for patients like Jill with severe emphysema, who may otherwise have needed to undergo major surgery to achieve a similar effect.
“We now need to build up further experience with this device to establish exactly which types of emphysema patient derive the greatest benefit, and the best way to do that is to enrol patients in clinical trials.”
Jill concluded: “I would recommend this procedure to anyone who finds themselves in the state that I was.
“It has given me a new lease of life. I’m now getting out and about again, and managing to spend more time with my twin four-year-old grandchildren.”