You have just taken the first step toward learning more about a non-drug procedure for severe, persistent asthma in patients 18 years and older, whose asthma is not well controlled with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists.

The procedure is called Bronchial Thermoplasty, or BT, and it offers asthma control 365 days a year! BT is offered at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City through the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine’s section of interventional pulmonology and bronchoscopy.

BT is performed by Arthur Sung, MD, Director of Interventional Pulmonology and Bronchoscopy, in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Learn More

How it Works
Bronchial thermoplasty delivers thermal energy to the airway wall in a precisely controlled manner to reduce excessive airway smooth muscle. Reducing airway smooth muscle decreases the ability of the airways to constrict, thereby reducing the frequency of asthma attacks.

The BT Procedure
BT is a minimally invasive bronchoscopic procedure performed in three outpatient procedure visits, each treating a different area of the lungs and scheduled approximately three weeks apart. After all three procedures are performed, the bronchial thermoplasty treatment is complete. The Alair® Bronchial Thermoplasty System is FDA approved.

BT Complements Asthma Medications
BT is expected to complement current asthma maintenance medications by providing long-lasting asthma control and improving asthma-related quality of life of patients with severe asthma.

BT Benefits and Risks
One year follow-up indicates...

Benefits of BT

• 32 % reduction in asthma attacks
• 84 % reduction in emergency room visits for respiratory symptoms
• 73 % reduction in hospitalizations for respiratory symptoms
• 66 % reduction in days lost from work, school, and other daily activities due to asthma
• Improved asthma quality of life

Clinical Research
BT has a stable safety profile out to five years. New research published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, shows that reductions in asthma attacks and ER visits and hospitalizations for respiratory symptoms are maintained out to two years. The benefits of the procedure are expected to be long lasting.

Risks of BT?
In the period immediately following BT, a small percentage of patients experience a worsening of asthma-related respiratory symptoms.

These events typically occur within a day of the procedure and resolve, on average, within seven days with standard care.

There is a small possibility (3.4% per procedure) that the temporary worsening of asthma symptoms after a procedure may result in the patient being admitted to the hospital for management of asthma symptoms