Abstract

Introduction: Coil implantation has been introduced some years ago for the treatment of emphysema with marked hyperinflation and disrupted fissures. Recently a new coil has been developed with a curlier shape (Free Flow Medical). We describe our first clinical experience with the next generation coils. Method: The over-all treatment strategy is unchanged from the first generation coil. Coils were implanted via flexible bronchoscopy under nurse administered sedation to the side of lowest perfusion on SPECT in patients with marked hyperinflation and disrupted fissures or treatment failure following valves. Results: 10 patients (69 years) underwent unilateral implantation of a total of 96 coils from Sept to Nov 2022. 8 patients had valves implanted before, while 4 of them were ineffective and 2 suffered from persistent cough/ recurrent infections. Valves were removed prior to coil implantation. In 2 additional patients with persistent atelectasis coils were implanted to the collateral side due to secondary hyperinflation. 1 patient underwent surgical LVR 12 years and first coil implantation 5 years ago. 10 new coils were implanted on top of the old 10 coils. Mean duration of bronchoscopy: 37min, 365mg propofol and 6mg hydrocodone were used. Despite 4 patients suffered from global-respiratory failure no periinterventional complication occurred. Follow up at 6-12 weeks showed improvement of FEV1 from 30.4% to 32.6%, reduction of RV from 223% to 203% (4.60l to 4.19l) and improvement of 6 min walk distance from 347 to 378m. Diffusion capacity remained unchanged (40.5% to 40.1%). Conclusion: The implantation of new generation of coils is safe and leads to a reduction of RV and improvement of exercise capacity.