Bronchial Thermoplasty

Bronchial Thermoplasty is a new treatment for asthma involving the delivery of controlled, therapeutic radiofrequency energy to the airway wall, thus heating the tissue and coagulating bronchial tissue, reducing the amount of smooth muscle present in the airway wall [Cox G., M. D., McWilliams A., FitzGerald J.M., and Lam S. (2006). "Bronchial Thermoplasty for Asthma." American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine 173: 965 - 969.] . This treatment has shown to result in acute epithelial destruction with regeneration observed in the epithelium, blood vessels mucosa and nerves, however airway smooth muscle has observed almost no capacity for regeneration, instead replaced by connective tissue [Mitzner, W. (2006). "Bronchial Thermoplasty in Asthma." Allergology International 55(3): 225 - 234.] .