U of L Hospital participating in treatment trial that may help lung disease patients breathe easier

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - A device the size of a peanut gives lung disease patients the sweet breath of life.

George Glassner lives by the pump. "I couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs without 'ahahahaha'," said the 68-year-old who suffers from emphysema and C.O.P.D.

"Hopefully this will help improve their quality of life and help them breathe better," said Dr. Tanya Wiese, a pulmonologist at U of L Hospital.

Emphysema and C.O.P.D. are incurable diseases, though Dr. Wiese says she may have a treatment that will help severe emphysema sufferers breathe a sigh of relief.

"What we do is we try to block the area of lung that's diseased so no airflow goes to that area," Dr. Wiese said.

"When the lung get emphysematous and diseased it becomes like a big balloon and it starts to crush the other part of the good lung and then it can't function well. So since this part is not working, we collapse it with the valves which allows the good portion to re-expand and start working again," Dr. Wiese explained.

"The valve is no bigger than an eraser," she adds.

Doctors implant three to eight of them specifically into the diseased part of the lung. It's part of what's called the "Liberate Study."

U of L is the only hospital in Kentucky and one of only a handful in the country piloting the trial.

Dr. Wiese is currently looking for patients, which shouldn't be too hard to hard to come find. The Commonwealth leads the nation in tobacco-related diseases and tobacco usage.

"Gosh, I started smoking at 17 and quit when I was 55," Glassner said.

Unfortunately, Glassner did not qualify for the trial.

He's managing his flare-ups through rehab and medicine, but watching the research makes him hopeful that one day he will breather easier again.

"I used to have anxiety attacks all the time about getting out of breath and what am I going to be like in three years," Glassner said.

For more information on trial eligibility for potential patients contact Crissie Despirito at 502-852-0026 or crissie.despirito@louisville.edu