Treatment of pulmonary emphysema sheep model through bronchoscopic lung volume reduction：an experimental study

Abstract:

Objective：To explore the effectiveness and superiority of establishing airway bypass through bronchoscopic radio frequency catheter lung volume reduction in the sheep model of pulmonary emphysema. Methods：Sixteen female sheep aged 6 months were di－vided into group A and group B randomly and emphysema models were established by means of papain. Group A set up airway bypass through bronchoscopic radio frequency catheter. Both groups were given medical treatment. Forced expiratory volume in one second（FEV1.0） of every sheep before the treatment，24 h，4 weeks and 8 weeks after the treatment were measured and compared. Tho－racic CT of group A was examined regularly. All sheep were executed at 8 weeks after the treatment and were applied to do patho－logical examination. Results：①sixteen sheep were copied into pulmonary emphysema model successfully. No obvious intraoperative and postoperative abnormality was observed in group A. ②Thoracic CT of group A at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after the operation showed that：lung volume of the treatment area shrinked and atelectasis appeared.③FEV1.0 levels at different time points were significantly different（Ftime=1 352.409，P=0.000）；treatment effects of two therapies were significantly different（Fgroup=5 004.278，P=0.000）， and ther－apies and time were interactive（Ftime×group=1 325.058，P=0.000）. ④Pathological examination showed that：in group A，alveolar at－electatic area was seen in treatment area and emphysema in non treatment area；granulocyte and lymphocyte infiltrated in alveolar atelectasis. Alveolar tissue emphysema was seen in group B. Conclusion：Establishing the airway bypass through bronchoscopic ra－dio frequency catheter lung volume reduction is effective and is superior to medical treatment in the sheep model of pulmonary em－physema.