Overlake Medical Center offers bronchial thermoplasty for patients with severe asthma

Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue is now the only hospital in King County offering bronchial thermoplasty to patients suffering from severe asthma, giving them a non-medicated, proven way to control their asthma symptoms and resulting in 32 percent fewer severe asthma attacks.

“The benefits of the treatment persist for years after the procedure, whereas in other asthma treatments, the patients have to keep taking their medications to continue having a benefit.”

Bronchial thermoplasty is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure in which a thin fiber optic tube is passed through the mouth of the patient and into the airway. Using the tube, doctors are able to deliver precisely-controlled heat to the airway wall, which reduces any excessive smooth muscle around the airway. By reducing this excess smooth muscle, the ability of the airway to constrict is diminished. This significantly decreases the likelihood of an asthma attack.

"This is a novel approach to the treatment of asthma that does not use medications to control this debilitating disease," said Dr. Amy Markezich, the associate medical director of the Pulmonary Division at Overlake Medical Clinics. "The benefits of the treatment persist for years after the procedure, whereas in other asthma treatments, the patients have to keep taking their medications to continue having a benefit."

According to the Washington State Department of Health more than half a million people in Washington state have asthma and approximately 5,000 people are hospitalized every year. Bronchial thermoplasty has been shown to not only result in 32 percent fewer severe asthma attacks but in addition 84 percent fewer emergency room visits and 66 percent fewer lost days from work, school, and other activities due to asthma.

"Patients 18 or older who have persistent asthma and who are still getting exacerbations despite using inhaled controller medications are candidates for bronchial thermoplasty," said Dr. Markezich.