CELEB: lung volume reduction in COPD - surgery vs endobronchial valves
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The CELEB trial: Comparative Effectiveness of Lung volume reduction surgery for Emphysema and Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction with valve placement
IRAS ID
188120
Contact name
Nicholas Hopkinson
Contact email
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN19684749
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
People with emphysema have lungs that become baggy and full of holes meaning that they are unable to breathe out fully. This is called “gas trapping”. As emphysema progresses this causes breathlessness, limits how far they can walk and can be fatal.
Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) is an operation to remove the worst affected part of the lung making more space for the remaining healthier lung to function. There is good evidence that in properly selected individuals this can improve breathlessness and increase life expectancy. It is a significant operation and does carry a risk of complications. A more recent approach is to use a fibreoptic camera (bronchoscope) to place valves into the airways of the lung. These stop air entering the worst-affected section of the lung causing it to collapse with similar benefits to surgery.
No studies have compared the two approaches so we do not know which is more effective and how to balance the risks and benefits.
We will recruit 76 people with severe emphysema. Half will have LVRS and half bronchoscopic lung volume reduction with valves (BLVR). At one year we will compare lung function, walking distance and breathlessness to see which group have done better. We will look at complications such as hospital admissions, chest infections or the need for further procedures to compare the cost of the two approaches. This will allow us to decide which approach is better value for patients and the healthcare system.
The results will be published in medical journals and in the media more widely. They will be used to help develop guidelines for the management of emphysema.REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0286
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion