Actually, to answer your original question, the answer is "it depends". Each site that actually does the procedure evaluates individuals to see if they are good candidates, and they're still learning from that in actual practice. In addition, of those who have the procedure, most have a successful outcome eventually; however there are some who don't and have the valves removed. I think one of the biggest issues still are those people who have pneumothoraxes or pneumonia as a result of the procedure. These take time for recovery and can result in unsuccessful outcomes, though the majority of people who experience them do have successful outcomes after recovery. That should give you an idea of what kinds of questions to ask as you're being evaluated. Not only are you being evaluated, you should be evaluating the procedure, the people who do the procedure and the center in determining what you want to do.

@A MyCOPDTeam Member, search this site for posts discussing “zephyr” valves as well as “endobronchial” valves and you’ll see who has decided to move forward with the tool, as well as who was not a good match.

Good luck.

Mentioned Users

A MyCOPDT...

@A MyCOPDTeam Member, what was the outcome? Did you decide to go forward with the valve testing to see if they might work for you?

Just being nosy...

Mentioned Users

A MyCOPDT...

thank you.

thank you