Spectrum Health is the first health system in West Michigan to offer targeted lung denervation, an investigational treatment option for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
Dr. Gustavo Cumbo-Nacheli, Spectrum Health director of Bronchoscopy Services, discusses what COPD is, and the new treatments offered by Spectrum Health.
COPD is one of the leading, yet under-recognized causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The disease interferes with normal breathing, so its most common symptom is persistent breathlessness. Exacerbations, or “attacks” are sudden flare-ups of respiratory symptoms such as breathlessness, coughing, and wheezing.
Left untreated, these increase the risk for hospitalization and exacerbate the symptoms of the disease. While COPD is incurable, there are treatment options available to make a patient's life easier.
Spectrum Health offers a new treatment for COPD patients called Targeted Lung Denervation, a bronchoscopic intervention designed to disrupt pulmonary nerve reflexes. This procedure may have the potential to reduce COPD exacerbation.
Spectrum Health is now enrolling patients through the AIRFLOW-3 Clinical Trial, sponsored by Nuvaira. The trial is targeting exacerbation risk reduction in COPD patients through the use of targeted lung denervation. The trial is enrolling patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, a high number of symptoms, and a history of COPD exacerbations.
Spectrum Health is the only center offering this clinical trial in West Michigan, which started in December 2020.
To learn more about how to participate in the trial, or about the services Spectrum Health Pulmonology provides, call (616)-267-8244 or visit spectrumhealth.org/patient-care/pulmonology.
