Chapman Medical in Emphysema Study

Chapman Medical Center has been selected as one of three Southern California hospitals to participate in a nationwide study to benefit emphysema patients.

The study is designed to show whether surgery to reduce lung volume is safe and effective for patients in the last stages of emphysema, a chronic lung condition usually cased by smoking.

Chapman joins UCLA Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and 18 hospitals nationwide in the study, which is being conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

“Although lung volume reduction surgery has been reported to improve lung function and quality of life in some cases, there are still many questions about its benefits and risks that should be answered before it is used widely,” said Claude Lenfant, director of the Institute, which is a branch of the National Institutes of Health. “This study should provide the data that we need to determine whether it is effective.”

Chapman is considered a leader in the field of lung surgery, with its doctors having performed more than 1,000 such procedures.

The study is expected to take four to five years.

Information: (800) 788-0891.