Boston Scientific’s Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System Receives Private Coverage – news Stories

Boston Scientific's Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System Receives Private Coverage
news Stories
Minnesota-based HealthPartners and Michigan-based Priority Health recently issued the first public postings of positive insurance coverage policies providing their respective memberships with reimbursement for this procedure used to treat severe asthma
Boston Scientific Welcomes Positive Private Insurance Coverage Decisions for MarketWatch (press release)

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RGS5 Inhibits Bronchial Smooth Muscle Contraction in Severe Asthma.

RGS5 Inhibits Bronchial Smooth Muscle Contraction in Severe Asthma.

Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2012 Jan 26;

Authors: Yang Z, Balenga N, Cooper PR, Damera G, Edwards R, Brightling CE, Panettieri Jr RA, Druey KM

Abstract
Severe asthma is associated with fixed airway obstruction due to inflammation, copious luminal mucous, and increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass. Paradoxically, studies have demonstrated that hypertrophic and hyperplastic ASM characteristic of severe asthma has reduced contractile capacity. We compared GPCR-induced Ca(2+) mobilization and expression of GPCRs and signaling proteins related to procontractile signaling in ASM derived post-mortem from subjects who died of non-respiratory causes to cells from subjects who died of asthma. Despite increased or comparable expression of contraction-promoting GPCRs (bradykinin B2 or histamine H1 and PAR1, respectively) in asthmatic ASM cells relative to cells from healthy donors, asthmatic ASM cells had reduced histamine-induced Ca(2+) mobilization and comparable responses to bradykinin and thrombin, suggesting a post-receptor signaling defect. Accordingly, expression of Regulator of G protein signaling 5 (RGS5), an inhibitor of ASM contraction, was increased in cultured asthmatic ASM cells and in bronchial smooth muscle bundles of both asthmatic human subjects and allergen-challenged mice relative to those of healthy human subjects or naïve mice. Overexpression of RGS5 impaired Ca(2+)release to thrombin, histamine and carbachol and reduced contraction of precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) to carbachol. These results suggest that increased RGS5 expression contributes to decreased myocyte shortening in severe and/or fatal asthma.

PMID: 22281988 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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Boston Scientific’s Alair® Bronchial Thermoplasty System Achieves Important … – MarketWatch (press release)

Boston Scientific's Alair® Bronchial Thermoplasty System Achieves Important
MarketWatch (press release)
"It supports what we have confirmed through our clinical trials: bronchial thermoplasty offers a new advancement in the treatment of patients with severe asthma who are not well controlled despite taking recommended doses of asthma medications.

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CMS acknowledges clinical improvement linked with use of Alair Bronchial … – News-Medical.net

CMS acknowledges clinical improvement linked with use of Alair Bronchial
News-Medical.net
"It supports what we have confirmed through our clinical trials: bronchial thermoplasty offers a new advancement in the treatment of patients with severe asthma who are not well controlled despite taking recommended doses of asthma medications.
Boston Scientific's Alair thermoplasty system wins CMS approvalZenopa

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St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital Offers Bronchial Thermoplasty Treating Severe … – MarketWatch (press release)

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Offers Bronchial Thermoplasty Treating Severe
MarketWatch (press release)
Affecting almost 25 million Americans, asthma is one of the top five chronic diseases globally, along with heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Patients treated with this minimally invasive, outpatient procedure have shown a decrease in severe

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Boston Scientific’s Alair® Bronchial Thermoplasty System Achieves Important … – Sacramento Bee

Boston Scientific's Alair® Bronchial Thermoplasty System Achieves Important
Sacramento Bee
"It supports what we have confirmed through our clinical trials: bronchial thermoplasty offers a new advancement in the treatment of patients with severe asthma who are not well controlled despite taking recommended doses of asthma medications.

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Pharmaxis Announces ARIDOL® (Mannitol Inhalation Powder) Bronchial Challenge … – Sacramento Bee

Pharmaxis Announces ARIDOL® (Mannitol Inhalation Powder) Bronchial Challenge
Sacramento Bee
ARIDOL, the only dry powder bronchial challenge test approved for use in the United States, is used to assess bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients six years of age and older who do not have clinically apparent asthma. ARIDOL should not be used as

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Pharmaxis Announces ARIDOL® (Mannitol Inhalation Powder) Bronchial Challenge … – PR Newswire (press release)

Pharmaxis Announces ARIDOL® (Mannitol Inhalation Powder) Bronchial Challenge
PR Newswire (press release)
ARIDOL, the only dry powder bronchial challenge test approved for use in the United States, is used to assess bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients six years of age and older who do not have clinically apparent asthma. ARIDOL should not be used as

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Relation of bronchial and alveolar nitric oxide to exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in atopic children and adolescents.

Relation of bronchial and alveolar nitric oxide to exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in atopic children and adolescents.

Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2011 Dec 7;

Authors: Linkosalo L, Lehtimäki L, Holm K, Kaila M, Moilanen E

Abstract
To cite this article: Linkosalo L, Lehtimäki L, Holm K, Kaila M, Moilanen E. Relation of bronchial and alveolar nitric oxide to exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in atopic children and adolescents. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2011; Doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2011.01223.x ABSTRACT: Background and objective:? Exercise challenge test is widely used in diagnostics and follow-up of childhood asthma, but the method is complex, time consuming, and expensive. In this study, we aimed to find out whether flow-independent nitric oxide (NO) parameters (bronchial NO flux [J’aw(NO) ] and alveolar NO concentration [CA(NO) ]) predict exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) in atopic children and adolescents with asthma-like symptoms. Also, the respective NO parameters corrected for axial backward diffusion (J’aw(NO) [TMAD] and CA(NO) [TMAD]) were calculated and included in the analysis. Methods:? Thirty patients (6-19?yr old) with confirmed atopy (positive skin prick tests or allergen-specific IgE) and asthma-like respiratory symptoms were included in the study. Before the current investigations, none of the patients had been diagnosed to have asthma and none were on inhaled corticosteroids. Exhaled NO was measured at multiple exhalation flow rates, and exercise challenge test was carried out. Bronchial NO flux and alveolar NO concentration were calculated according to the linear method with and without correction for axial backward diffusion. Sixty-six healthy school children served as controls. Results:? The patients were divided into two groups according to EIB. Patients with EIB (EIB+ group, n = 18) had enhanced bronchial NO output as compared to patients without EIB (EIB- group, n = 12); but the EIB- group did not differ from healthy controls. EIB+ group had also higher alveolar NO concentration than EIB- group and healthy controls, but EIB- group did not differ from healthy controls. When bronchial NO flux and alveolar NO concentration were corrected for axial diffusion, J’aw(NO) (TMAD) had equal difference as J’aw(NO) between the groups as expected. However, only EIB+ had higher CA(NO) (TMAD) than healthy controls, and the patient groups did not differ from each other. In patients, bronchial NO output correlated with the magnitude of exercise-induced change in PEF (r(s) = -0.388, p = 0.034), FEV(1) (r(s) = -0.395, p = 0.031), and FEF(50%) (r(s) = -0.431, p = 0.020), i.e., the higher the bronchial NO output, the larger the decrease in PEF/FEV(1) /FEF(50%) . Alveolar NO concentrations correlated with the change in FEV(1) (r(s) = -0.439, p = 0.015), FEF(50%) (r(s) = -0.454, p = 0.013), FEF(75%) (r(s) = -0.447, p?=?0.017), and FVC (r(s) ?=?-0.375, p?=?0.045). For J’aw(NO) (TMAD), the correlations and p-values were equal to those of J’aw(NO) , but, interestingly, CA(NO) (TMAD) had no significant correlations with any of the exercise-induced changes in lung function. Conclusion:? The results showed that in atopic children and adolescents, increased bronchial NO output as well as J’aw(NO) (TMAD) were associated with EIB, while alveolar NO concentration (but not CA(NO) [TMAD]) correlated with the degree of obstruction in smaller airways induced by exercise challenge.

PMID: 22145648 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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Emory University Hospital First in Southeast to Offer Bronchial Thermoplasty … – Woodruff Health Sciences Center

Emory University Hospital First in Southeast to Offer Bronchial Thermoplasty
Woodruff Health Sciences Center
ATLANTA – Approximately 22 million Americans currently suffer from asthma, with 10-15 percent of that population – or over 3 million individuals – experiencing severe persistent asthma, which is difficult to control with even combined usage of

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