Bronchial thermoplasty: a new therapeutic option for the treatment of severe, uncontrolled asthma in adults

1. Marie-Christine Dombret1,8, 
2. Khuder Alagha2,8, 
3. Louis Philippe Boulet3,
4. Pierre Yves Brillet4, 
5. Guy Joos5, 
6. Michel Laviolette3, 
7. Renaud Louis6,
8. Thierry Rochat7, 
9. Paola Soccal7, 
10. Michel Aubier1 and 
11. Pascal Chanez2⇑

+Author Affiliations

1. ¹Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Bichat APHP, U700 INSERM University Hospitals Dept, Diderot University, Paris, France ²Dept of Respiratory Medicine, APHM, INSERM U1067 CNRS UMR 7333, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France³Research Centre at the Institute of Cardiology and Respiratory Medicine, Laval University, Quebec, QC, Canada⁴Dept of Radiology, Avicenne Public Hospital, Bobigny, France ⁵Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium⁶Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Liege University Hospital, GIGAI3 Research Group, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium⁷Dept of Respiratory Medicine, HUG Geneva, Switzerland⁸Both authors contributed equally

1. Pascal Chanez, Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Marseille Public Hospitals, INSERM U1067 CNRS UMR 7333, Aix Marseille University, Hôpital Nord, 13015 Marseille, France. E-mail: pascal.chanez@univ-amu.fr
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3. Abstract

Bronchial thermoplasty is a young yet promising treatment for severe asthma whose benefit for long-term asthma control outweighs the short-term risk of deterioration and hospitalisation in the days following the treatment. It is an innovative treatment whose clinical efficacy and safety are beginning to be better understood.

Since this is a device-based therapy, the overall evaluation of risk–benefit is unlike that of pharmaceutical products; safety aspects, regulatory requirements, study design and effect size assessment may be unfamiliar. The mechanisms of action and optimal patient selection need to be addressed in further rigorous clinical and scientific studies. Bronchial thermoplasty fits in perfectly with the movement to expand personalised medicine in the field of chronic airway disorders. This is a device-based complimentary asthma treatment that must be supported and developed in order to meet the unmet needs of modern severe asthma management. The mechanisms of action and the type of patients that benefit from bronchial thermoplasty are the most important challenges for bronchial thermoplasty in the future.

This Article

1. doi:10.1183/09059180.00005114Eur Respir Rev December 1, 2014 vol. 23 no. 134 510-518

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