Coils

[Eve3066]

Ok has anyone any experience of having these coils fitted or know anyone who has had this procedure done.?

[scrobbitty]

A friend sent me the link below which appeared in The Mail Online which may be of interest to you x

dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

[johnwr in reply to scrobbitty]

Hi scobbity,

Any publicity that brings Lung Disease to the fore is to be applauded. I did, however, notice that the op date was July 2011.

[scrobbitty in reply to johnwr]

Yes I spotted that John and the article was online yesterday! It wasn't a bad article though and certainly did highlight lung conditions, sympathetically I thought and that's got to be good. x

[johnwr]

Hello Eve3066,

This could be a fairly long answer so please bear with me.

My own position is that I had valves to my right lung very successfully in February 2012. I give presentations at medical seminars to give a patients perspective. I am not medically trained.

Yesterday (Tuesday, 13/05/2014) I was at a seminar in Cardiff about the Modern Management of Emphysema. Part of that seminar discussed surgical and associated methods of intervention, and coils were discussed as part of that. Valves and coils are used as alternatives for Lung Volume Reduction from surgical methods where diseased parts of lungs are cut from the chest. From where we were several years ago to the present, many advances have been made, particularly with regard to the use of valves and coils, and the management of patients after these devices are fitted. Valves received early acceptance, because they are easy to implant and have a much lower impact on the patient, and importantly, should they prove to be causing problems, they can easily be taken out. These valves are little one-way valves that are set to only allow air to pass out of the targeted area of the lung. This has the effect of sucking that part shut, thereby reducing the volume of the lung and allowing that rest of the lung to operate better. The down side of valves is that they are suitable only for a relatively smaller number of patients. This is because they work well only if the divisions between the different lobes of the lung are intact. (These divisions are called 'fissures', and are substantial features inside the lung that can be seen on X-ray or CT scan images.) See what I wrote about Colateral Ventilation as an answer to a question within this article,

healthunlocked.com/blf/ques...

Using coils is one way to avoid the problems associated with colateral ventilation, because their action is purely mechanical. They are made from a medical alloy called nitinol (an alloy of nickel and titanium that our bodies find acceptable, and do not reject). Nitinol has a very useful property in that it is a memory spring. It will always try to return to its set shape. A number (usually about 10) are placed into targeted areas in the lung using a bronchoscope (tube with camera down the throat). They go in straight, and return to their 'memory' shape over a period of several days. This makes that part of the lung 'scrunch' up.Collectively, they close down a section of lung and reduce the volume of the lung. Advantages are mainly that colateral ventilation is not an issue. Disadvantages. Some patients have had some discomfort as the coils take up their natural or memory shape. The areas closed off lose any ventilation, so that natural secretions as well as mucus cannot drain from that part easily. Coils require a minimum density of tissue to get hold of, so if you have large cavities or 'bullae', then they are not suitable. Internal tearing of the tissues within the lung is also a small, but possible risk. Therefore infection is an issue that needs consideration and urgent treatment if it occurs. If a problem does present itself, extraction of only a few coils may be possible. This procedure is not considered reversible.

A couple of short videos for you to see. The first shows how valves are fitted, and the second one explains coils.

youtube.com/watch?v=7C6CGqX...(Not working as expected?)

youtube.com/watch?v=Ku9VkEn...(Not working as expected?)

I hope this helps. If you need more info, ask.

breathe easy

johnwr

[Tamara70 in reply to johnwr]

Very interesting post JohnWr. Unfortunately, not suitable for me.

Good luck with yours.

Tamara

[Eve3066]

Thanks for that, I was not aware of all the issues. I have however spoken to my consultant this afternoon and he tells me that I would not be suitable for this procedure anyway. Still interesting reading however.

[johnwr in reply to Eve3066]

Hello Eve3066,

Did your consultant explain to you why you would not be suitable. The most common reason, I believe, is that because there are a number of medium and large sized cavities within the lungs, then there is not enough tissue present for the coils to safely get hold of without risk of causing tears, or possibly even a major hemorrhage.

johnwr

[junespoon in reply to johnwr]

Hi Johnwr , it's been a while since we have been in touch, after my insertion of 9 valves , Just over a year ago much improvement was found , went back to Leeds early part of this week to have the right lung done, unfortunately no collateral intervention and so could not be done . On reading many articles on the coils this is not always nessasary, so now I m gouging to try and see if any surgeon will possibly take me on a trail for my right lung only if that's possible , any ideas on this would help p,ease Johnwr , regards

[Eve3066]

I have to admit I did not ask him this question, just accepted the fact it was not suitable for my particular problem.