NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ¿ Treatment with a stent coated with the drug paclitaxel to reduce hyperinflation of the lungs appears to be a feasible treatment for patients with severe emphysema, according to the results of a small study. This treatment can improve lung function and reduce shortness of breath, according to the results of small study.

"These results indicate that airway bypass is a potentially viable therapeutic option for patients with marked severe pulmonary destruction, whose only current option may be to wait for a lung transplant," lead author Dr. Paulo F. G. Cardoso, from Santa Casa de Porto Alegre-Pavilhao Pereira Filho Hospital in Brazil, said in a statement. Airway bypass along with less invasive treatments to relieve symptoms in patients with advanced disease, "may ultimately improve quality of life for patients with very severe disease or even those in the transplant waiting lists," he commented to Reuters Health. Cardoso added that airway bypass is a particularly important advance for patients with "more uniform destruction of the lung" because usually their only option is a lung transplant. The stents are placed through the airway walls to release the air trapped in diseased segments of the lung, allowing it to be expelled normally.