Yet Another Twist on LVRS: Reply

Abstract

We thank Tian and colleagues1Tian D. Jiang K.-Y. Fu M.-Y. Lung volume reduction surgery: only short-term evaluation is enough? (letter).Ann Thorac Surg. 2021; 111: 1094-1095Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar for their interest in our article2Seadler B. Thuppal S. Rizvi N. et al.Clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 866-872Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar and for their letter to the editor with their comments.1Tian D. Jiang K.-Y. Fu M.-Y. Lung volume reduction surgery: only short-term evaluation is enough? (letter).Ann Thorac Surg. 2021; 111: 1094-1095Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar The results of our study2Seadler B. Thuppal S. Rizvi N. et al.Clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 866-872Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar reiterate the positive outcomes of lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). At 1-year follow-up, patients who underwent LVRS had an improved pulmonary function along with improved quality of life (QOL), and improvements in pulmonary function correlated well with several QOL parameters. All patients who underwent LVRS at our center are followed-up on a yearly basis. Patients who could not come to the clinic for review were contacted by mail or telephone. A yearly retreat for patients who underwent LVRS is being conducted, and patients’ opinions about their lives after LVRS and any information regarding how they benefitted from LVRS are being collected.The scope of the original article2Seadler B. Thuppal S. Rizvi N. et al.Clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 866-872Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar was to present the immediate 1-year outcomes after LVRS. As mentioned in the original submission, our center will evaluate the longitudinal outcomes of LVRS up to 5 years after surgery, and the data will be presented at a later date. We plan to include both pulmonary function and QOL outcomes over a period of 5 years.It was originally our thought that QOL might be a surrogate for other measurements like pulmonary function tests to determine the success of LVRS. The correlation was not, however, proved to be strong enough to preclude doing pulmonary function tests and other measurements. We thank Tian and colleagues1Tian D. Jiang K.-Y. Fu M.-Y. Lung volume reduction surgery: only short-term evaluation is enough? (letter).Ann Thorac Surg. 2021; 111: 1094-1095Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar for their interest in our article2Seadler B. Thuppal S. Rizvi N. et al.Clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 866-872Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar and for their letter to the editor with their comments.1Tian D. Jiang K.-Y. Fu M.-Y. Lung volume reduction surgery: only short-term evaluation is enough? (letter).Ann Thorac Surg. 2021; 111: 1094-1095Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar The results of our study2Seadler B. Thuppal S. Rizvi N. et al.Clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 866-872Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar reiterate the positive outcomes of lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). At 1-year follow-up, patients who underwent LVRS had an improved pulmonary function along with improved quality of life (QOL), and improvements in pulmonary function correlated well with several QOL parameters. All patients who underwent LVRS at our center are followed-up on a yearly basis. Patients who could not come to the clinic for review were contacted by mail or telephone. A yearly retreat for patients who underwent LVRS is being conducted, and patients’ opinions about their lives after LVRS and any information regarding how they benefitted from LVRS are being collected. The scope of the original article2Seadler B. Thuppal S. Rizvi N. et al.Clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery.Ann Thorac Surg. 2019; 108: 866-872Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar was to present the immediate 1-year outcomes after LVRS. As mentioned in the original submission, our center will evaluate the longitudinal outcomes of LVRS up to 5 years after surgery, and the data will be presented at a later date. We plan to include both pulmonary function and QOL outcomes over a period of 5 years. It was originally our thought that QOL might be a surrogate for other measurements like pulmonary function tests to determine the success of LVRS. The correlation was not, however, proved to be strong enough to preclude doing pulmonary function tests and other measurements. Lung Volume Reduction Surgery: Only Short-term Evaluation Is Enough?The Annals of Thoracic SurgeryVol. 111Issue 3PreviewWe read with great interest the article by Seadler and colleagues,1 who assessed clinical and quality of life outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). This study demonstrated that patients with emphysema refractory to medical therapy can benefit significantly from LVRS, and these findings were consistent with those of a previous 10-year study.2 This study examined the correlation between quality of life and pulmonary metrics and assessed the feasibility of using a questionnaire as a potential substitute for actual pulmonary function testing. Full-Text PDF