Services/Treatments

It is believed at Apollo Hospitals that the first step to cure is accurate diagnosis. Read more about the state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities at the Institutes of Pulmonology.

Respiratory Care & Chest Medicine

Our Pulmonary services cover the entire spectrum of Respiratory Care and Chest Medicine, ranging from lung disease prevention and detection to pharmacologic and interventional treatment. We have specialized Pulmonary medicine expertise with the most sophisticated techniques and technologies available to diagnose and treat many patients with chest and respiratory problems.

The disease spectrum includes the following:

• Airway Disorders such as Asthma, bronchitis, COPD, and Bronchiectesis.
• Pleural diseases such as pleural effusion and pneumothorax
• Interstitial lung Disease (ILD), including Sarcoidosis and IPF
• Pulmonary Vascular disease, including Pulmonary Hypertension, Pulmonary embolism and others
• Sleep Disorders including Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Lung Cancer, and other forms of cancer which affects the lungs
• Shortness of breath due to any cause
• Peri-operative care of patients with lung disease
• Respiratory care of Neuromuscular disease such as motor neuron disease, kyphoscoliosis and so on
• Smoking related lung disorders and smoking prevention.
• Interventional Pulmonology: A unique specialty by itself

Asthma, bronchitis, and other chronic airway disorders

The incidence of asthma, bronchitis, chronic cough, and recurrent respiratory infections and other airway disorders is on the rise in India in general, and urban cities in particular. We are a specialized center for preventive, educational and treatment aspects of asthma, COPD and other airway disorders and provide comprehensive services to take care of these patients.

Sleep Disorders medicine

We provide expertise in diagnosis and management of diseases such as obstructive sleep apnea, and other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, and insomnia. Our credentials include American Board Certification in Sleep Disorders medicine, and considerable experience with dealing with these disorders in India. These disorders play a major role to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes and stroke, and are strongly under diagnosed and untreated due to lack of knowledge and expertise.

Interventional Pulmonology

Interventional Pulmonology is a new State-of the-art field within Pulmonary medicine that focuses on the use of advanced diagnostic and therapeutic techniques to treat patients with benign airway disorders, pleural diseases and lung cancer. These complex procedures include both diagnostic and advanced therapeutic interventions, and are at the cutting edge of both diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopy and thoracoscopy.We are a specialized center for Interventional Pulmonology, and one of the few centers in the country to provide skill, infrastructure and the experience to deal with these procedures.

There are very few institutions in the country, which can offer comprehensive services in Interventional Pulmonology

• Transbronchial needle aspiration and Biopsy.
• Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) guided transbronchial needle aspiration and biopsy.
• Transbronchial biopsy for diagnosis of diseases such as TB, sarcoidosis, and lung cancer.
• Rigid bronchoscopy.
• Thermal ablation in the airway: Electrocautery, argon photocoagulation.
• Airway Stent placement.
• Medical Thoracoscopy, diagnostic and therapeutic.
• Pleurodesis for recurrent effusions as in cancer and some benign disorders.
• Expert management of Broncho-pleural fistula using endoscopic techniques.
• Percutaneous tracheostomy: This involves tracheostomy at the bedside, in critically ill patients, avoiding surgical dissection, and is the preferred procedure for tracheostomy in intensive care units worldwide.

Our Partners in Chest Disease – The Department of Thoracic Surgery

We have special expertise in Thoracic surgery, with experienced personnel who can do complex chest surgeries using the latest endoscopic techniques, such as VATS (Video-assisted thoracic surgery). These include

• VATS decortication
• VATS lobectomy
• VATS bullectomy
• VATS sympathectomy for hyperhidrosis
• Tracheal surgery

Bronchial thermoplasty

What is Bronchial Thermoplasty?

It is a new and innovative procedure in which the inside of the airways is heated using an electrode through a procedure called as bronchoscopy, done under sedation. Bronchial thermoplasty reduces the wall thickness of the smooth muscle to increase the airflow through your lungs to ease the breathing and reduce the symptoms of asthma. It is done with three sittings and is shown to significantly reduce the frequency of asthma attacks, hospital visits and improve the quality of life.

In a nutshell, who qualifies for Bronchial Thermoplasty?

Severe asthma, where all modalities of treatment have been tried, and still have persistent attacks, restricted quality of life, need for steroids, and work and existence affected due to asthma

Bronchial Thermoplasty – First and only non-drug therapy for severe asthma with clinically proven benefits out to 5 years

In the Asthma Intervention Research ² (AIR2) Trial, one of the largest sham-controlled medical device trials in pulmonary medicine, patients with severe asthma showed significant improvement compared to sham-controlled patients 1 year after treatment with Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) delivered by the Alair™ System. The AIR2 Trial 5-Year Extension Study evaluated the sustained effectiveness and safety of BT out to 5 years in BT-treated patients from the AIR2 Trial.^1,2

Fewer exacerbations, with effectiveness maintained out to 5 years ^1,2

32% decrease in severe asthma exacerbations (requiring systemic corticosteroids) at 1 year compared with sham-controlled patients¹

• Reduction in percentage of patients experiencing exacerbations seen at 1 year maintained out to 5 years (primary endpoint)²
• Fewer emergency room visits, with reduction maintained out to 5 years ^1,2

84% reduction in emergency room visits for respiratory symptoms at 1 year compared with sham-controlled patients¹

• Reduction in ER visits seen at 1 year maintained out to 5 years²
• Safety maintained over 5 years²
• No increase was seen in hospitalizations, asthma symptoms, or respiratory adverse events over the course of 5 years in patients treated with BT²
• No structural changes in airways that were clinically significant were due to BT at 5 years²
• Absence of clinically significant deterioration in lung function (FEV1) at 5 years²

As with any procedure, there are risks, and individual results may vary. The most common adverse event of BT is a temporary worsening of respiratory-related symptoms. These events typically occur within one day of the BT procedure and usually resolve within a week with standard care. There is a small risk (3.4% per procedure) that symptoms may require hospitalization

Who is BT for?

BT is for patients with severe asthma ≥ 18 years who are on maximum-tolerated doses of asthma medications but still experience asthma symptoms and/or risk of future exacerbations. This can include patients with any one of the following:

• Chronic oral corticosteroid use
• Two or more exacerbations per year
• Omalizumab candidate
• Impaired quality of life (assessed by AIS-6, ACT, AQLQ)

What is Bronchial Thermoplasty?

Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT), delivered by the Alair™ System, is a safe and minimally invasive outpatient procedure for the treatment of severe asthma in adults.

BT provides long-lasting asthma relief by reducing excess smooth muscle.

Treatment with BT addresses airway constriction by reducing the amount of excess smooth muscle tissue. Less muscle tissue means less airway constriction during an asthma attack.1 Unlike daily asthma medications, BT continues to work for years. BT targets airway smooth muscle and complements a patient’s current asthma medication used to control inflammation.

Airway Cross-section

The Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System is indicated for the treatment of severe persistent asthma in patients 18 years and older whose asthma is not well controlled with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists.

The Alair System

The Alair System, which delivers BT, is composed of 2 primary components: The Alair Catheter and the Alair Radiofrequency (RF) Controller.

Alair Catheter

Sterile, single-use, disposable device designed to deliver therapeutic radiofrequency (RF) energy to the airways via standard bronchoscope

Alair RF Controller

Provides temperature controlled delivery of RF energy to the Alair Catheter at levels needed to safely reduce airway smooth muscle. The energy delivered is designed to limit long-term impact to surrounding tissues

BT is performed by a trained pulmonologist in 3 sessions, scheduled 3 weeks apart, to ensure safety and optimal results.

Bronchial Thermoplasty Check List for Physicians

Bronchial Thermoplasty checklist for Pulmonologists

Patient name –                    Age-                           Uhid no –

Patient Selection Criteria for Bronchial Thermoplasty

Abbreviations

1. FEV1-Forced expiratory volume in 1 sec
2. PFT- Pulmonary function test
3. ABPA-Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosi
4. COPD- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
5. BDR-bronchodilator Response
6. ICS-Inhaled corticosteroids
7. LABA-Long Acting Beta₂ agonist

Parameters examined for Quality for life

• Absenteeism at work
• Family suffering
• Shortness of breath
• Asthma symptoms disturbing sleep in the night
• The patient’s ability to enjoy normal life activities since life quality is strongly related to wellbeing without suffering from sickness and treatment.
• Usage of rescue inhaler or nebulizer medication
• Tiredness

More parameters are to be added with further research Approach to developing of the Patient selection criterion for Bronchial Thermoplasty

Review the literature

• We did an extensive literature search in the primary database about the procedure, requirements, patient selection for Bronchial Thermoplasty.
• The search was done to identify the Clinical outcomes of BT. The search items included Asthma stages, Severe asthma symptoms, Co relation between the asthma stages and pharmacological drugs administered, importance of BT in severe asthma, benefits of doing a BT, steps in the procedure, outcomes measured.

Clinical outcomes

1. The most common ways of documenting the improvement in Severe Asthma patients after undergoing BT procedure are:
2. Safety endpoint- Decrease in rate of Emergency room visits, Hospitalization for respiratory symptoms.
3. Respiratory Adverse Events such as any infections in Ear, Nose and throat, Lower respiratory infections. These are considered when occurring with >3% incidence in the patients treated with lair BT system
4. Reduction in frequency of administration of Inhaled corticosteroid puffs
5. Decrease in use of nebulizer
6. Pre-procedure Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1) should be greater than or equal to 85%. Post-Bronchodilator Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1) to assess patient stability pre and post procedure.
7. Improvement in Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) Score