The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it has approved the Zephyr Breathing Valve, a device designed to help alleviate breathing difficulty for patients suffering from severe emphysema. Tina Kiang, Ph.D., the acting director of the Division of Anesthesiology, General Hospital, Respiratory, Infection Control and Dental Devices, in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, commented on the value of the Zephyr Breathing Valve in a press release from the FDA. “Treatment options are limited for people with emphysema who have severe symptoms that have not improved from taking medicines. These have included lung surgery, such as lung volume reduction or lung transplants, which may not be suitable or appropriate for all patients…This novel device is a less invasive treatment that expands the options available to patients.”
For more information including who should be evaluated for it, contraindications (conditions that would disqualify a patient from receiving the device) and risks associated with it, read the FDA’s press release here: FDA approves novel device for treating breathing difficulty from severe emphysema.